An appeal to matter of fact and common sense, or, A rational demonstration of man's corrupt and lost estate

UNIVERSITY OF PIT!

SBURGH

J Dar
' BT720
1 F613
cop.l

Ju/iorary

4 4/4 4 4
ft « i 4 /

HMhHP

1

Uarlingt*

6 AM

3n JVlemoriaJ

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2010 with funding from

University of Pittsburgh Library System

http://www.archive.org/details/appealtomatterofOOinflet

AN

APPEAL

TO

MATTER OF FACT

AND

COMMON SENSE.

OR. A

RATIONAL DEMONSTRATION

OF

MAN'S CORR UPT AND LOST ESTATE.

YE pompous sons of Reason idoliz'd
And vilify'd at once; of Reason dead,
Then deify 'd, as mohardis were of old ,
W rong not the Christian ; think not Reason yours:
*Tis Reason our great Master holds so dear ;
Tis Reason's injured l-ights his wrath resents ;
'Tis Reason's voice ohey'd h:s glories crown ;
To give lost Reason life he pour'd his own ;
Believe, and shew the Reason of a Man ;
Believe and taste the pleasure of a God ;
Thro' Reason's wounds alone thy faith can die.

YOUNG'S NIGHT THOUGHTS.

THE SON OF MAN IS COME TO =iEEK AND TO SAVE THAT WHICH
WAS LOST LUKE XIX. IO.

NEW-YORK:

PRINTED BY KIRK Iff ROBINSON, FOZ THE METHODIST SOClETYj

AND SOLD BY E. COOPER, AND J. WILSON, AT

THE BOOK ROOM.

1804.

jDar,
BTlZO

F6/3
top,!

■■N

TO THE PRINCIPAL INHABITANT'S OF THE PARISH OF
MADE LE^ IN THE COUNTT OF SALOP.

GENTLEMEN,

YOU are no less intitled to my private labours,
than the inferior class of my parishioners. As you do
not chuse to partake with them of my evening instruc-
tions, I take the liberty to present you with some of my
morning meditations. May these well-meant endeavours
of my pen, be more acceptable to you than those of my
tongue ! And may you carefully read in your closets,
what you have perhaps inattentively heard in the church!
I appeal to the Searcher of hearts, that I had rather im-
part truth than receive tithes; You kindly bestow the lat-
ter upon me; grant me, I pray, the satisfaction of see-
ing you favourably receive the former, from

GENTLEMEN,

TOUR AFFECTIONATE MINISTER

AND OBEDIENT SERVANT,

J. FLETCHERE.

Madeley 1772.

CONTENTS.

AN INTRODUCTION.

FIRST PART.

THE Doctrine of man's corrupt and lost estate is stated
at large, in the words of the Prophets, Apostles, and Jesus
Christ ; and recapitulated in those of the Articles, Homilies,
and Liturgy of the Church of England.

SECOND PART.

Man is considered as an inhabitant of the natural world,
and his fall is proved by arguments deduced from the misery,
in which he is now undeniably involved ; compared with the
happiness, of which we cannot help conceiving him possessed,
when he came out of the hands of his gracious Creator.

A view of this misery in the following particulars...!. The
disorders of the globe we inhabit, and the dreadful scourges
with which it is visited... .II. The deplorable and shocking cir-
cumstances of our birth... .III. The painful and dangerous tra-
vail of women... IV. The untimely dissolution of still-bom, o*

CONTENTS.

new-born children... .V. Our natural uncleanliness, helpless-
ness, ignorance, and nakedness....VI. The gross darkness in
which we naturally are, both with respect to God and a future
state....VIl. The general rebellion of the brute creation against
us.. ..VIII. The various poisons that lurk in the animal, vegeta-
ble, and mineral world, ready to destroy us.. ..IX. The heavy
curse of toil and sweat, to which we are liable ; instances of
which are given in the hard and dangerous labours of the au-
thor's parishioners....X. The other innumerable calamities of
Iife...-And XI. the pangs of death.

THIRD PART.

Man is considered as a citizen of the moral world, a free agent,
accountable to his Creator for his tempers and conduct; and
his fall is further demonstrated by arguments drawn from.. ..XII.
His commission of sin.... XIII. His omission of duty.. ..XIV,
The triumphs of sensual appetites over his intellectual facul-
ties ...XV. The corruption of the powers that constitute a
good head ; the understanding, imagination, memory and rea-
son.=..XVI. The depravity of the powers which form a good
heart ; the will, conscience, and affections. ...XVII. His ma-
nifest alienation from God. ...XVIII. His amazing disregard even
of his nearest relatives... XIX. His unaccountable unconcern
about himself.... XX. His detestable tempers.... XXI. The gen-
eral out-breaking of human corruption in all individuals....
XXII. The universal overflowing of it in all nations ; Five
objections answered.. ..XXIII. Some striking proofs of this de-
pravity in the general propensity of mankind to vain, irrational,
or cruel diversions ; and.. ..XXIV. In the universality of the
most ridiculous, impious, inhuman, and diabolical sins.. ..XXV.
The aggravating circumstances attending the display of this,
corruption.. ..XXVI. The many ineffectual endeavours to stem
its torrent ...XXVII. The obstinate resistance it makes to divine
grace in the unconverted.... XXVIII. The amazing struggles
of good men with it. ...XXIX. The. testimony of the heathens,
and deists concerning it; and after all....XXX. The prepos-

CONTENTS.

terous conceit which the unconverted have of their own good-
ness.

FOURTH PART.

Man is considered as an inhabitant of the christian world;
and his fallen state is further proved by six scriptural arguments,
introduced by a short demonstration of the authenticity of
the scriptures and by a little attack upon the amazing cre-
dulity of deists. The heads^of these arguments are. ...XXXI.
The impossibility that fallen corrupt Adam, should have had
an upright, innocent posterity ; with answers to some capital
objections....XXXII. The spirituality and severity of God's
law, which the unrenewed man continually breaks ; and....
XXXIII. Our strong propensity to unbelief, the most destruc-
tive of all sins according to the gospel.... XXXIV. The absur-
dity of the chr^tian religion with respect to infants, and strict
moralists;. ...XXXV. The harshness and cruelty of Christ's
fundamental doctrines ; and....XXXVI. The extravagance of
the grand article of the christian faith ; //"mankind are not in a
corrupt and lost estate.

FIFTH PART.

The doctrine of man's fall being established by such a variety
of arguments ; first, a few natural inferences are added : secondly,
various fatal consequences attending the ignorance of our lost es-
tate: thirdly, the unspeakable advantages arising from the right
knowledge of it.

The whole is concluded with an address to the serious
reader, who enquires what he must do to be saved.... And with
an appendix, concerning the evangelical harmony that subsists
between living faith and loving obedience.

INTRODUCTION.

IN religious matters we easily run into ex-
tremes. Nothing is more common than to see
people embracing one error, under the plausible
pretence of avoiding another.

Many, through fear of infidelity, during the
night of ignorance and storm of passion, run a-
gainst the "wild rocks of superstition, and enthu-
siasm : and frequently do it with such force, that
they make shi/iwreck of the faith, and have little
of godliness left, -except a few broken pieces of its
form.

Numbers, to shun that fatal error, steer quite
a contrary course : supposing themselves guided
by the compass of reason, when they only follow
that of prejudice, with equal violence they dash
their speculative brains against the opposite rocks
of deism and profaneness ; and fondly congratu-
late themselves on escaping the shelves of fana-
ticism, whilst the leaky bark of their hopes is
ready to sink, and that of their morals is perhaps
sunk already. Thus, both equally over- look so-
ber, rational, heart-felt piety, that lies between
those wide and dangerous extremes.

INTRODUCTION. x

To point out the happy medium which they
have missed, and call them back to the narrow
path, where reason and revelation walk hand in
hand, is the design of these sheets. May the
Father of lights so shine upon the reader's mind,
that he may clearly discover truth, and notwith-
standing the severity of her aspect, prefer her to
the most soothing error.

If he is one of those, who affect to be the warm
votaries of reason, he is intreated to be a chse-
thinker, as well as a/ree-thinker ; and with care-
ful attention to consider reason's dictates, before
he concludes, that they agree with his favourite
sentiments. He has, no doubt, too much can-
dour, not to grant so equitable a request ; too
much justice, to set aside matter of fact ; and too
much good sense, to disregard an appeal to com,'
mon sense*

Should he incline to the opposite extreme,
and cry down our rational powers; he is desired
to remember, right reason, which is that I ap-
peal to, is a ray of the light that enlightens every
man who comes into the world, and a beam of the
eternal Logos, the glorious Sun of righteousness*

God, far from blaming a proper use of the no-
ble faculty, by which we are chiefly distinguish-
ed from brutes, graciously invites us to the ex-
ercise of it : Come now, says he, and let us rea-
son together. Jesus commends the unjust steward,
for reasoning better upon his wrong, than the
children of light upon their right principles.
Samuel desires the Israelites to Hand still, that

INTRODUCTION. xi

he may reason with them before the Lord. St.
Peter charges believers to give an answer to
every one, that asketh them a reason of their
hope. And St. Paul, who reasoned so conclu-
sively himself, intimates, that wicked men are
unreasonable; and declares, that a total dedi-
cation of ourselves to God is our reasonable
service : and, while he challenges the vain dis-
puters of this world, who would make jests pass
for proofs, invectives for arguments, and sophis-
try for reason ; he charges Titus to use, not
merely sound speech, but, as the original also
means, sound reason, that he who is of the con-
trary part may be ashamed.

Let us then, following his advice and example,
pay a due regard both to reason and revelation :
So shall we, according to his candid direction,
break the shackles of prejudice, prove all things,
and, by divine grace, holdfast that which is good*

AN

APPEAL

TO

MATTER OF FACT, to.

FIRST PART.

IN every religion there is a principal truth or
error, which like the first link of a chain, necessarily
draws after it all the parts with which it is essentially
connected. This leading principle, in Christianity
distinguished from deism, is the doctrine of our cor
rupt and lost estate : for if man is not at variance with
his Creator, what need of a Mediator between God
and him ? If he is not a depraved, undone creature,
what necessity of so wonderful a Restorer and Saviour
as the Son of God ? If he is not inslaved to sin, why
is he redeemed by Jesus Christ ? If he is not polluted,
why must he be washed in the blood of that immacu-
late Lamb ? If his soul is not disordered, what occa-
sion is there for such a divine Physician ? If he is not
helpless and miserable, why is he perpetually invited
to secure the assistance and consolations of the Holy
Spirit? and in a word, if he isnot born in sin, why is anew
birth so absolutely necessary, that Christ declares
■

U AN APPEAL, tfc. Part I.

with the most solemn asseverations, without it no
man can see the kingdom of God ?

This doctrine then being of such importance, that
genuine Christianity stands or falls with it ; it may be
proper to state it at large : and as this cannot be done
in stronger and plainer words, than those of the
sacred writers, and our pious reformers ; I beg leave
to collect them, and present the reader with a picture
of our natural estate, drawn at full length by those
ancient and masterly hands.

I. Moses, who informs us, that God created man
in his own image, and after his likeness, soon casts
a shade upon his original dignity, by giving us a sad
account of his fall. He represents him after his dis-
obedience, as a criminal under sentence of death ; a
wretch filled with guilt, shame, dread, and horror ;
and a vagabond, turnedout of a lost paradise into a curs-
ed wilderness, where all bears the stamp of desolation
for his sake. Gen. iii. 17. In consequence of this
apostacy he died, and all die in him : for, by one man
sin entered into the world, and c^eath by sin ; and so death
passed upon all men, for that all have sinned in him,
who was all mankind seminally and federally collected
in one individual. 1 Cor. xv. 22. Rom. v. 12.

The sacred historian, having informed us how the
first man was corrupted, observes, that he begat a son
in his own image, sinful and mortal like himself; that
his first-born was a murderer; that Abel himself of-
fered sacrifices to avert divine wrath, aud that the vio-
lent temper of Cain soon broke out in all the human spe-
cies. The earth, says he, was filled with violence. ...all
flesh hadcorrupted its way.... and God saw the wickedness
of man was great in the earth, so great, that every Ima-
gination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil, contin-
ually. Only evil, without any mixture of good : and contin~
■uatty, without any intermission of the evil. Gen.vi. 5.

When the deluge was over, the Lord himself gave
the same account of his obstinately rebellious crea-
ture. The imagination of man's heart, said he to

Part I. AN APPEAL, &ct 15

Noah, is evil from his youth, Gen. viii. 21.. ..Job's
friends paint us with the same colours : One of them
observes, that man is born like the wild ass's colt :
And another that he is abominable and filthy, and
drinks iniquity like water. Job xi. 12, and xv. 16.

David, doth not alter the hideous portrait: The
Lord, says he, looked down from heaven upon the
children of men ; to see if there were any that did un-
derstand and seek God. And the result of the divine
inspection is : They are all gone aside, they are alto-
gether become filthy : There is none that doth good,
no not one. Psal. xiv. 2. Solomon gives a finishing
stroke to his father's draught, by informing us, that
foolishness is bound in the heart of a child, and not of
a child only, for he adds, The heart of the sons of
men is full of evil, and while they live madness is in
their heart. Prov. xxii. 15. Eccl. ix. 3.

Isaiah corroborates the assertions of the royal pro-
phets, in the following mournful confession : All we,
iik« oheep, have gone astray... .We are all as an un-
clean thing, and all our rightousnesses are as filthy
rags. Isa. liii. 6. and Ixiv. 6.

Jeremiah confirms the deplorable truth, where he
says : the sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron,
and with the point of a diamond ; it is graven upon
the. tables of their hearts. ...O Jerusalem, wash thy
heart from wickedness, that thou may est be saved....
For the heart is deceitful above all things, and despe-
rately wicked : Who can know it ? Jer. iv. 14. and
xvii. 1. 9.

Thus the pro;* ets delineate mankind in a natural,
impenitent state. And do the apostles dip their pen-^
cil in brighter colours ? Let them speak forthemselvs.
The chief of them informs us, that the natural, un-
renewed man receives not the things of the Spirit of
God, and that they are foolishness to him. 1 Cor.
ii. 14. And he lays it down as matter of fact, that
the carnal mind, the taste and disposition of every
unregenerate person, is not only averse to goodness,

16 AN APPEAL, &e* Part I.

but enmity itself against God, the adorable fountain of
all excellence. A blacker line can hardly be drawn,
to describe a fallen, diabolical nature. Rom. viii. 7.
Various are the names, which the apostle of the
gentiles gives to our original corruption ; and they
are all expressive of its pernicious nature, and dread-
ful effects. He calls it emphatically, sin, a sin so full
of activity and energy, that it is the life and spring of
all others :.... Indwelling sin, a sin which is not like
the leaves and fruits of a bad tree, that appear for a
time, and then drop off ; but like the sap that dwells
and works within, always ready to break out at every
bud :....The body of sin, because it is an assemblage
of all possible sins in embryo, as our body is an assem-
blage of all the members which constitute the human
frame :....The law of sin, and the law in our members,
because it hath a constraining force, and rules in our
mortal bodies, as a mighty tyrant in the kingdom
which he hath usurped :....The old man, because we
have it from the first man, Adam ; and because it i»
as old as the first stamina of our frame, with which it
is most closely interwoven ;....The flesh, as being pro-
pagated by carnal generation, and always opposing the
Spirit, the gracious principle, which we have from
Adam the second :....And concupiscence, that mystic
Jezebel, who brings forth the infinite variety of flesh-
ly, worldly, and mental lusts, which war against the
soul.

Nor are St. James and St. John less severe than
St. Paul, upon the unconverted man. The one ob-
serves, that his wisdom, the best property naturally
belonging to him, descendeth not from above, but is
earthly, sensual, and devilish : And the other posi-
tively declares, that the whole world lieth in wicked-
ness. Jam. iii. 15. 1 John, v. 19.

Our Lord, whose spirit inspired the prophets and
apostles, confirms their lamentable testimony. To
make us seriously consider sin, our mortal disease,
he reminds us, that the whole have no need ©f a

Part I. AN APPEAL, &c. 17

physician, but they that are sick. Luke v. 31. He
declares, that men love darkness rather than light.
That the world hates him ; and that its works are
evil. Johniii. 19 and xv. 18. and vii. 7. He directs
all to pray for the pardon of sin, as being evil, and
oweing ten thousand talents to their heavenly cre-
ditor. Mat. fi. 12. vii. 11. xviii. 24. And he as-
sures us, that the things, which defile the man, come
from within ; and that out of the heart proceed evil
thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts,
covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an
evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness, and in a word,
all moral evil. Mark vii. 21. Mat. xv. 19.

Some indeed confine what the scriptures say of
the depravity of the human heart, to the abandoned
heathens and persecuting Jews ; as if the professors
of morality and Christianity, were not concerned in
the dreadful charge. But if the apostolic writings
affirm, that Christ came not to call the righteous, but
shiners ; that he died for the ungodly ; and that he suf-
fered, the just for the unjust ; it is plain that, unless
he did not suffer and die for moral men and christians,
they are by nature sinners, ungodly, and unjust as the
rest of mankind. Rom. v. 6. 1 Pet. iii. 18.

If this assertion seems severe, let some of the
best men that ever lived, decide the point, not by the
experience of immoral persons, but by their own. [
abhor myself, says Job, and repent in dust and ashes.
Job xlii. 6. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, says
David, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Ps. li.
5. Wo is me for I am undone, says Isaiah, because
lam a man of unclean lips. Isa. vi. 5. I know, says
St. Paul, that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwellethno
good thing. Rom. vii. 18. We ourselves, says he,
to Titus, were sometimes foolish, disobedient, de-
ceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in
malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.
Tit. iii. 3. And speaking of himself, and the chris-
tians at Ephesus, he leaves upon record, this memo-
»3

18 AN APPEAL, isfc. Part I.

rable sentence : We were by nature the children of
wrath even as others, Eph. ii. 3. Such humbling
thoughts have the best of men entertained both of
their natural estate, and themselves !

But as no one is a more proper person to appeal
to, in this matter, than this learned apostle, who, by
continually conversing with jews, heathens, and
christians in his travels, had such an opportunity of
knowing mankind ; let us hear him sum up the suff-
rages of his inspired brethren. What then, says he,
are we better than they ? Better than the immoral
pagans and hypocritical jews, described in the two
preceding chapters ? No, in no wise. And he proves
it by observing: (1) The universality of human cor-
ruption : all are under sin, as it is written, there is
none righteous, no not one : (2) The extent of it in
individuals, as it effects the whole man, especially
his mind ; there is none that understandeth the things
of God : His affections, there is none that seeketh
after God : And his actions, they are all gone out of
the way of duty : There is none that doeth good, no
not one ; For ail have their conversation in the lusts
of the flesh and of the mind. ...(3) The out -breakings
of this corruption through all the parts of the body :
Their throat, their lips, their mouth, their feet, their
eyes, and all their members are together become un-
profitable, and instruments of unrighteousness. As
for their tongue, says St. James, it is a world of ini-
quity, it defileth the whole body, and sets on fire the
course of nature, and is set on fire of hell. And
lastly, its malignity and virulence : It is loathsome
as an open sepulchre, terrible as one who runs to shed
blood, and mortal as the poison of asps.

From the whole, speaking of all mankind in their
unregenerate state, he justly infers that destruction
and misery are in their ways. And, lest the self-
righteous should flatter themselves, that this alarm-
ing declaration doth not regard them, he adds, that
the scriptures conclude all under sin ; that there is no

Part I. AN APPEAL, &c\ 19

difference, for all have sinned, and come short of the
glory of God ; and that the moral law denounces a
general curse against its violators, that every mouth
may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty
before God. Rom. iii. 9 to 23. vi. 19. Eph. ii. 2.

If man is thus corrupt and guilty, he must be
liable to condign punishment. Therefore as the pro-
phets and apostles agree with our Lord, in their dis-
mal descriptions of his depravity ; so they harmonize
with him, in their alarming accounts of his danger.
Till he flies to the Redeemer as a condemned male-
factor, and secures an interest in the salvation pro-
vided for the lost, they represent him as on the brink
of ruin.

They inform us, that the wrath of God is reveal-
ed from heaven, not only againstsome atrocious crimes,
but against all unrighteousness of men. Rom. i. 18.
That every transgression and disobedience, shall re-
ceive a just recompence of reward, Heb. ii. 2. That
the soul that sinneth shall die, because the wages of
sin is death. Ezek xviii. 4. Rom. vi. 23. They de-
clare, that they are cursed, who do err from God's
commandments : That cursed is the man, whose
heart departeth from the Lord : That cursed is t ery
one, who continues not in all things, which are writ-
ten in the book of the law to do them : That who-
soever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one
point, is guilty ofall : And that, as many as have sin-
ned without law, shall also perish without law. Ps.
cxix. 21. Jer. xvii. 5. Gal. iii. 10. Jam. ii. 10. Rom.
ii. 12.

They intreat us to turn, lest we should be found
with the many, in the broad way to destruction. Ez.
xviii. 23. Mat. 7. 13. They affectionately inform us,
ihat it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the
living God : That our God is a consuming fire to the
unregenerate : that indignation and wrath, tribulation
and anguish, hang over every soul of man who doeth
evil : that the Lord shall be revealed from heaven in

20 AN APPEAL, Vc. Part I.

.flaming fire, to take vengeance on them, who know
him not, and obey not the gospel : That the wicked,
shall be turned into hell, and all the people that for-
get God : that they shall be punished with eternal
destruction, from the presence of the Lord, and from
the glory of his power : And that they all shall be
damned, who believe not the truth, but have pleasure
in unrighteousness. Heb. x. 31. and xii. 29. Rom. ii.
9. 2 Thes. i. 8. and ii. 12. Ps. ix. 17.

Nor does our Lord, who is both the fountain and
pattern of true charity, speak a different language.
He bids us fear him who is able to destroy both soul
and body in hell: Luke xii. 5. He solemnly charges
us to oppose corrupt nature with the utmost resolu-
tion, lest we be cast into hell, where the worm dieth
not, find the fire is not quenched. Mark ix. 43. With
tenderness he informs us, that whosoever shall say to
Jiis brother, Thou fool ! shall be in danger of hell-fire ;
that not only the wicked, but the unprofitable servant
shall be cast into outer darkness, where will be weep-
ing, wailing, and gnashing of teeth : And that he
himself, far from conniving at sin, will fix the doom
of all impenitent sinners, by this dreadful sentence :
Depart from me, ye cursed : into everlasting fire,
prepared for the devil and his angels. Mat. v. 22. and
xxv. 30. 41.

II. I flatter myself that the doctrine, which we
are to try by the touch-stone of reason, has been al-
ready sufficiently established from scripture. Never-
theless, that the reader may have the fullest view of
so momentous a subject, I shall yet present him with
a recapitulation of the whole, in the words of our
pious reformers, taken out of the Articles, Homilies,
and Liturgy of the church of England.

The 9th article thus describes our depravity and
danger : " Original, or birth-sin, is the fault and cor-
ruption of the nature of every man, that naturally is
engendered of the offspring of Adam ; whereby man
is very far gone from original righteousness, and is

Part t AN APPEAL, Uf ft 21

of his own nature inclined to evil, so that the flesh
lusteth always contrary to the Spirit ; and therefore in
every person born into this world, it deserveth God's
wrath and damnation."

The 35th article gives sanction to the Homilies in
the following words : " The book of Homilies con-
tains a good and wholesome doctrine, and therefore
we judge them to be read in churches, by ministers,
diligently and distinctly, that they may -be understood
by the people." Let us then see, how they set forth
the good and wholesome, though lamentable and
humbling doctrine of our lost estate.

The title of the 2d is, " A sermon of the misery
of mankind, and of his condemnation to death ever-
lasting by his sin." In the close of it, the contents
cj*e summed up in these words : " We have heard
how evil we are of ourselves ; how of ourselves, and by
ourselves we have no goodness, help, or salvation : but
on the contrary, sin, damnation, and death everlasting.

Our church is uniform in her woeful accounts of
man's misery. Hear her in the 1st Homily for Whit-
sunday : u Man of his' own nature (since the fall) is
fleshly and carnal, corrupt and naught, sinful and
disobedient to God, without any spark of goodness in
him, without any virtuous or godly motion, only
given to evil thoughts and wicked deeds."

In the Homily on the nativity she speaks thus :
" He (disobedient man) was now cursed and abhorred :
Instead of the image of God, he was now become the
image of the devil, the bond-slave of hell. Altoge-
ther spotted and denied, he seemed to be nothing else
but a lump of sin ; and therefore, by the just judg-
ment of God, he was condemned to everlasting death-
Thus, in Adam, all men became universally mortal,
having in themselves nothing but * everlasting dam-
nation of body and soul."

* Prejudiced persons, who, instead of considering the entire
system of truth, run away with a part detached from the whole.

22 AN APPEAL, fcV. Part I.

The same doctrine is delivered with the same
plainness in the 2d part of the Homily on the passion.
" Adam died the death, that is, became mortal, lost
the favour of God, and was cast out of paradise, be-
ing no longer a citizen of heaven, but a fire-brand of
hell, and a bond-slave of the devil. And St. Paul
bears witness, that by Adam's offence death came up-
on all men to condemnation, who became plain re-
probates, and cast -away s, * being perpetually damned
to the everlasting pains of hell-fire.

Agreeably to this, we are taught, in the 2d part
of the Homily on repentance, that " part of that vir-
tue consists in an unfeigned acknowledgment of our
sins to God, whom, by them, we have so grievously
offended, that if he should deal with us according to
his justice, we deserve a thousand hells, if there
were so many."

The same vein of wholesome, though unpleasant
<loctrine7 rims through the Liturgy of our church.
She opens her service by exhorting us not to dissem-
ble nor cloak our manifold sins and wickedness. She
acknowledges in her confessions, that we have erred
and strayed from God's ways, like lost sheep.... that
there is no help in us.... that we are miserable sinners,
miserable offenders, to whom our sins are grievous,
and the burthen of them is intolerable.

She begins her baptismal office, by reminding us,
that all men are conceived andborninsin. Sheteaches in
her catechism, that we are by nature borninsin,and the
children of wrath. She confesses in the collect be-

will be offended here, as if our church " damned every body.''
But the candid reader will easily observe, that, instead of doom-
in?; any one to destruction she only declares, that the Saviour
finds all men in a state of condemnation and misery, where they
would eternally remain, were it not for the compassionate equity
of our gracious God, which does not permit him to sentence to a
consciousness of eternal torments, any one of his creatures, for a
sin, of which they never were personally guilty ; and of which,
consequently, they can never have any consciousness.

Part I. AN APPEAL, &c. 23

fore the general thanksgiving, that we are tied and
bound with the chain of our sins, and entreats God to
let the pitifulness of his great mercy loose us : and
in her suffrages she beseeches him to have mercv up-
on us, to spare us, and make speed to save us ; a lan-
guage that can suit none but condemned signers.

Duly sensible of our extreme danger, till we have
secured an interest in Christ, at the grave she suppli-
cates the most holy God, not to deliver us into the bit-
ter pains of eternal death ; and in the litany she be-
seeches our Lord Jesus Christ, by his agony and
bloody sweat, by his cross and passion, to deliver us
from his wrath and everlasting damnation. Thus is
our church every where consistent with herself, and
with the oracles of God, in representing us as corrupt,
condemned creatures, in Adam ; till we are penitent,
absolved believers in Jesus Christ.

The doctrine to be demonstrated in this treatise
being thus fully stated, in the consentaneous words of
the sacred writers, and our pious reformers, I shall
close this part by an appeal to the reader's candour
and common sense. If such are the sentiments of
our church, are those church-men reasonable, who in-
timate that all the maintainers of them are either her
open or secret enemies ? and may they rank with mo-
dest, humble christians, who instead of the self-abas-
ing scripture doctrine here laid down, boldly substitute
pompous, pharisaic descriptions of the present dignity
and rectitude of human nature ?.... without waiting for
the obvious answer, I pass to the first class of argu-
ments, on which the truth of this mortifying doctrine
is established.

SECOND PART.

AS no man is bound to believe what is contrary
to common sense ; if the above-stated doctrine ap-
pears irrational, Scriptures, Articles, Homilies, and
Liturgy, are quoted in vain : When men of parts
are pressed with their authority, they start from it as
an imposition on their reason, and make as honour-
able a retreat as they possibly can-
Some to extricate themselves at once, set the Bi-
ble aside, as full of incredible assertions. Others,
with more modesty, plead that the scriptures have
been frequently misunderstood, and are so in the pre-
sent case. They put grammar, criticism, and com-
mon sense to the rack, to shew that when the inspired
writers say, the human heart is desperately wicked,
they mean that it is extremely good ; or at least like
blank paper, ready to receive either the characters
of virtue, or of vice. With respect to the testimony
of our reformers, they would have you to understand,
that in this enlightened age, we must leave their harsh,
uncharitable sentiments, to the old puritans, mid the
present methodists.

That such objectors may subscribe as a solemn
truth, what they have hitherto rejected as a dange-
rous error ; and that humbled sinners may see the pro-
priety of an heart-felt repentance, and the absolute
need of an almighty Redeemer ; they are here pre-
sented with some proofs of our depravity, taken from
the astonishing severity of God's dispensations to-
ward s mank is d .

c

26 AN APPEAL, &c. Part IL

AXIOM.

If we consider the supreme Being, as creating a
world for the manifestation of his glory, the display
of his perfections, and the communication of his hap-
piness to an intelligent creature, whom he would at-
tach to himself by the strongest ties of gratitude and
love i we at once perceive, that he never could form
this earth and man in their present, disordered, de-
plorable condition. It is not so absurd to suppose the
meridian sun productive of darkness, as to imagine
that infinite goodness ever produced any kind or de-
gree of evil.

Infinite holiness and wisdom having assisted in-
finite goodness, to draw the original plan of the world ;
it could not but be entirely worthy of its glorious au-
thor, absolutely free from every moral defilement, and
natural disorder : Nor could infinite power possibly
be at a loss, to execute what the other divine attri-
butes had contrived. Therefore, unless we embrace
the senseless opinion of the materialists, who deny
the being of a God ; or admit the ridiculous creed
of the manichees, who adore two Gods, the one the
gracious author of all the good, and the other the mis-
chievous principle of ail the evil in the world ; we
must conclude with Moses, that every thing which
God made, was at first very good ; or in other words,
that order and beauty, harmony and happiness, were
stamped upon every part of the creation, and espe-
cially on man, the master-piece of creating power in
this sublunary world. On this axiom I raise my

I. ARGUMENT,

Does not the natural state of the earth cast a light
upon the spiritual condition of its inhabitants ? Amidst
athousand beauties, that indicate what it was, when

Part II. AN APPEAL, fefe. 2-7

God pronounced it very good, and as the original also
imports, extremely beautiful : Amidst the elegant
and grand ruins, which form the variety of our smil-
ing landscapes, and romantic prospects ; can an im-
partial inquirer help taking notice of a thousand strik-
ing proofs, that a multiplied curse rests upon this
globe ; and that man, who inhabits it, is now dis-
graced by the God of nature and providence ?

Here, deceitful morasses, or faithless quicksands
obstruct our way : There, miry, impassible roads, or
inhospitable sandy deserts, endanger our life. In one
place, we are stopped by stupendous chains of rocky
mountains, broken into frightful precipices, or hi-
deous caverns : And in another, we meet with ruin-
ous valleys, cut deep by torrents and water-falls,
whose tremendous roar stuns the astonished traveller.
Many of the hills are stony, rude, and waste ; and
most of the plains are covered over with strata of bar-
ren sand, stiff clay, or infertile gravel.

Thorns, * thistles, and noxious weeds grow spon-
taneously every where, and yield a troublesome never-
failing crop : While the best soil, carefully plowed by
the laborious husbandman, and sown with precious
seed, frequently repays his expensive toil with light
sheaves ; or a blasted harvest.

Consider that immense part of the globe, which
lies between the tropics : it is parched up by the
scorching beams of the vertical sun : There, the
tawny inhabitants fan themselves in vain ; they pant,
they melt, they faint on the sultry couch ; and, like
the birds of night, dare not appear abroad, till even-

* Those who oppose the doctrine of the fall, say that,
" Weeds have their use " I grant they are serviceable to thou-
sands of poor people, who earn their bread by pulling the general
nuisance out of cur fields and gardens : But till our objectors
have proved that thistles are more useful, and therefore grow-
more spontaneously, and multiply more abundantly, than corn ;
we shall discover the badness of their cause through the slightness
of their objection.

28 AN APPEAL, Wc. Part II.

ing shades temper the insufferable blaze of day.
View the frozen countries around the poles : In sum-
mer, the sun just glances upon them by his feeble,
horizontal rays : In winter, he totally deserts them,
and they lie bound with rigorous frosts, and buried in
continual night. There, the torpid inhabitants know
neither harvest nor vintage, the ocean seems a bound-
less plain of ice, and the continent immense hills of
snow.

'The temperate zones are indeed blessed with mil-
der climates : But even here, how irregular are the
seasons ! To go no farther than this favoured island.
What means the strange foresight, by which the ice
©f January is laid in to temper the ardours of July ;
and the burning mineral is stored in June, to mitigate
the frost in December ? But notwithstand'ng these
precautions, what continual complaints are heard,
about the intenseness of the heat, the severity of the
cold, or the sudden pernicious change from the one
to the other 1

Let us descend to particulars. In winter, how of-
ten do drifts of snow bury the starved sheep, and in-
tomb the frozen traveller ! In summer, how frequently
do dreadful storms of hail cut down, or incessant
showers of rain wash away the fruits of the earth !
Perhaps, to complete the desolation, water pours down
from all the neighbouring hills ; and the swelling
streams, joining with overflowing rivers, cause sud-
den inundations, lay waste the richest pastures, and
carry off the swimming flocks ; while the frighted in-
habitants * of the vale, either retire to the top of
their deluged houses, or by the timely assistance of
boats fly from the imminent and increasing danger.

If heaven seems to dissolve into water in one
place, in another it is like brass ; it yields neither
fruitful rains nor cooling dews : The earth is like iron

* This was the case e.f several families in the author's parish,
November, 1770.

Part II. AN APPEAL, tfc. if

under it, and the perishing cattle loll out their parched
tongues, where they once drank the refreshing stream.
Suppose a few happy districts escape these dreadful
scourges for a number of years, are they not at
last visited with redoubled severity ? And, whilst
abused affluence vanishes as a dream before the in-
tolerable dearth, do not a starving, * riotous populace,
leave their wretched cottages, to plunder the houses
of their wealthy neighbours, desperately venturing
the gallows for a morsel of bread.

When some, secure from the attacks of water,
quietly enjoy the comforts of plenty, fire perhaps
surprises them in an instant : They awake involved
in smoke, and surrounded by crackling flames, through
which (if it is not tco late) they fly naked at the hazard
of their neck, and think themselves happy if, while
they leave behind them, young children or aged pa-
rents, burning in the blaze of all their goods, they
escape themselves with dislocated joints or broken
bones. Their piercing shrieks, and the fall of their
house, seem to portend a general conflagration ; loud
confusion increases, disasterous ruin spreads ; and
perhaps, before they can be stopped, a street, a suburb,
a whole city is reduced to ashes.

Turn your imagination from the smoaking ruins,
to fix it upon the terrifying effects of the air, agitated
into roaring tempests and boisterous hurricanes, before
their impetuous blast, the masts of ships and cedars of
Lebanon, are like broken reeds ; men of war, and solid'
buildings like the driven chaff. Here, they strip the
groaning forest, tear the bosom of the earth, and ob-
scure the sky with clouds of whirling sand : And
there, they plow up the liquid foaming plains, and
with sportive fury turn up mountains for ridges, or
cut valleys instead of furrows. As they pass along,
the confounded elements dreadfully roar under the
mighty scourge, the rolling sea tosses herself up to

* This happened some years a%?oin this neighbourhood.

30 AN APPEAL, OV. Part II.

heaven, and solid land is swept with the besom of
destruction.

To heighten the horror of the scene, thunder,
the majestic voice of an angy God, and the awful ar-
tillery of heaven, bursts in loud claps from the lowr-
ing sky. Distant hills reverberate and increase the
alarming sound, and with rocking edifices declare to
man, that vengeance belongeth unto God : And, to
enforce the solemn warning, repeated flashes of light-
ning, with horrible glare, dazzle his eyes, and with
forked fires strike consternation into his breast ; if
they do not actually strike him dead, in the midst of
his shattered habitation.

Nor doth heaven alone dart destructive fires ;
earth, our mother earth, as if it were not enough fre-
quently to corrupt the atmosphere by pestilential va-
pours, borrows the assistance of the devouring ele-
ment, to terrify and scourge her guilty children. By
sudden, frightful chasms, and the mouth of her burn-
ing mountains, she vomits clouds of smoke, sulphure-
ous flames, and calcined rocks ; she emits streams of
melted minerals, covers the adjacent plains with boil-
ing fiery lavas ; and as, if she wanted to ease herself of
the burthen of her inhabitants, suddenly rises against
them, and in battles of shaking at once crushes, des-
troys, and buries them in heaps of ruins..

These astonishing scenes, like a bloody battle that
is seen at a distance, may indeed entertain us : They
may amuse our imagination, when in a peaceful apart-
ment, we behold them beautifully represented by the
pen of a Virgil, or the pencil of a Raphael. But to
be in the midst of them, as thousands are, sooner or
later, is inexpressibly dreadful : It is actually to see the
forerunners of divine vengeance, and hear the shaking
of God's destructive rod : It is to behold at once a
lively emblem, and an awful pledge of that fire and
brimstone, storm and tempest, which the righteous.
Governor of the world will rain upon the ungodly i
when the heavens shall pass away with a great noise,

Part II. AN APPEAL, &ci 31

the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the earth,
with the works that are therein, shall be burnt up.

Now as reason loudly declares, that the God of
order, justice, and goodness, could never establish
and continue this fearful course of things, but to pun-
ish the disorders of the moral world by those of the
natural ; we must conclude that man is guilty, from
the alarming tokens of divine displeasure, which sooner
or later are so conspicuous in every part of the habi-
tual globe.

II. ARGUMENT.

We have taken a view of the residence of man-
kind : let us now behold them entering upon the dis-
ordered scene. And here reason informs usr that
some mystery of iniquity lieshid under the loathsome,
painful, and frequently mortal circumstances, which
accompany their birth. For itcan never be imagined,
that a righteous and good God, would suffer innocent
and pure creatures, to come into- the world skilled in
no language but that of misery, venting itself in bitter
cries, or doleful accents.

It is a matter of fact, that infants generally return
their first breath with a groan, and salute the light
with the voice of sorrow ; Generally, I say, for some-
times they are born half-dead, and cannot without the
utmost difficulty be brought to breathe and groan.
But all are born at the hazard of their lives : For,
while some cannot press into the land of the living,
without being dangerously bruised ; others have their
tender bones dislocated. Some are almost strangled ;
and it is the horrible fate of others, to be forced into
the world by instruments of torture ; having their skull
bored through or broken to pieces, or their quiver-
ing limbs cut or torn off from the unfortunate trunk.
Again,

While some appearonthe stage of life embarrassed
with superfluous parts, others unnaccountably muti-

32 AN APPEAL, fc*. Part II.

lated, want those which are necessary : And what is
more terrible still, a few, whose hideous, mishap en
bodies seem calculated to represent the deformity of a
fallen soul, rank among frightful monsters ; and to
terminate the horror of the parents, are actually
smothered and destroyed.

The spectators, it is true, concerned for the ho-
nour of mankind, frequently draw a veil over these
shocking and bloody scenes ; but a philosopher will
find them out, and will rationally infer that the deplo-
rable and dangerous manner in which mankind are
born, proves them to be degenerate fallen creatures.*

III. ARGUMENT.

If we let our thoughts ascend, from the little suf-
ferers, to the mothers that bear them ; we shall find
another dreadful proof of the divine displeasure and of
our natural depravity. Does not a good master, much
more a gracious God, delight in the prosperity and
happiness of his faithful servants ? If mankind were
naturally in their Creator's favour, would he not or-
der the fruit of the womb to drop from it, without any
more inconveniency, than ripe vegetables fall from
the opening husk, or full-grown fruit from the dis-
burdened tree ? But how widely different is the case !

Fix your attention on pregnant mothers : See their
disquietude and fears. Some go before hand through

* Logicians will excuse the author, if he prefers the common
unaffected manner of proposing his arguments, to the formal me-
thod of the schools. But they may easily try his enthymemes by
giving them the form of syllogisms, thus.

I. Argument. If the rod of God is fearfully shaken over this
globe, the disordered habitation of mankind ; it is a sign they are
under his displeasure-

But God's rod is fearfully shaken over this globe, &c. There-
fore mankind are under his displeasure.

II. Argument. A pure and innocent creature cannot be born,
under such and such deplorable circumstances.

But man is born under such and such deplorable circumstances.-
Therefore man is not a pure and innocent creature.

Part II. AN APPEAL, &c. 22

an imaginary travail, almost as painful to the mind,
as the real labour is to the body. The dreaded hour
comes at last. Good God ! What lingering-, what
tearing pains ; what redoubled throes, what killing-
agonies attend it ! See the curse. ...or rather see it not.
Let the daughter of her who tasted the forbidden fruit
without the man, drink that bitter cup without him.
Fly from the mournful scene, fly to distant apartments
....But in vain.. ..The din of sorrow pursues and over-
takes you there.

A child of man is at the point of being born ; his
tortured mother proclaims the news in the bitterest ac-
cents. They increase with her increasing agony.
Sympathize and pray, while she suffers and groans....
Perhaps while she suffers and dies : For it is possibly
her dying groan that reaches your ear. Perhaps na-
ture is spent in the hard travail ; her son is born, and
with Jacob's wife, she closes her languid eye and ex-
pires. Perhaps the instruments of death are upon her :
The keen steel mangles her delicate frame : As Ce-
sar's mother ; she generously suffers her body to be
opened, that her unborn child may not be torn from
her in pieces ; and the fertile tree is unnaturally cut
down that its fruits may be safely gathered.

Perhaps neither mother nor child can be saved,
and one grave is going to deprive a distracted mortal
of a beloved Rachel, and a long expected Benjamin.
If this is the case, O earth, earth, earth, conceal these
slain, cover their blood, and detain in thy dark bosom,
the fearful curse that brought them there. Vain
wish 1 Too active to be confined in thy deepest vaults,,
it ranges through the world : With unrelenting fierce-
ness it pursues trembling mothers, and forces them
to lift up their voice for speedy relief : Though va-
ried according to the accents of an hundred languages,
it is the same voice.... that of the bitterest anguish :
And while it is reverberated from hamlet to hamlet,
from city to city, it strikes the unprejudiced inquirer,
and makes him confess, that these clouds of unbribed

34 AN APPEAL, &c. Part II.

witnesses, by their loud, consentaneous evidence, im-
peach Sin, the tormentor of the woman, and mur-
derer of her offspring.

But suppose the case is not so fatal, and she is at
last delivered ; her labour may be over, yet not her
pain and danger ; a lingering weakness may carry
her slowly to her grave. If she recovers she may be
a mother, and yet unable to act a mother's part. Her
pining child sucks her disordered breast in vain : Ei-
ther the springs of his balmy food are dried up, or
they overflow with a putrid loathsome fluid, and ex-
truciating ulcers cause the soft lips of the infant, to
appear terrible as the edge of the sword.

If she happily escapes this common kind of dis-
tress, yet she may date the beginning of some chro-
nical disease, from her dangerous lying-in ; and in
consequence of her hard wrestling for the blessing of
a child, may with the patriarch go halting all her days.
How sensible are the marks of divine indignation, in
all these scenes of sorrow ! and consequently how
visible our sinfulness and guilt.

Nor can the justness of the inference be denied,
under pretence that the females of other animals,
which neither do nor can sin, bring forth their young
with pain, as well as women. For, if we take a view
of the whole earth, we shall not see any females, ex-
cept the daughters of Eve, who groan under a peri-
odical disorder that intails languor and pain, weakness
and mortal diseases, on their most, blooming days.
Nor do we in general find any, that are delivered of
their offspring with half the sorrow and danger of
women. These two remarkable circumstances loudly
call upon us, to look for the cause of the sorrow,
which attends the delivery of female animals, where
that sorrow is most sensibly felt ; and to admire the
perfect agreement that subsists between the ob-
servations of natural philosophers, and the assertion
©f the most ancient historian. Gen. hi. 16.

Part II. AN APPEAL, &c. 35

IV. ARGUMENT.

If we advert to mankind, even before they
burst the womb of their tortured mothers, they afford
us a new proof of their total degeneracy. For rea-
son dictates, that if they were not conceived in sin,
the Father of mercies could not, consistently with
his goodness and justice, command the cold hand of
death to nip them in the unopened, or just opened bud.
This nevertheless happens every hour. Who can
number the early miscarriages of the womb ?
How many millions of miserable embryos feel the
pangs of death before those of birth, and preposterous-
ly turn the fruitful womb into a living grave? And
how many millions more of wretched infants, escape
the dangers of their birth-day, and salute the trouble-
some light, only to take their untimely leave of it,
after languishing a few days on the rack of a convul-
sive, or torturing disorder ? I ask again, would a good
and righteous God seal the death-warrant of such
multitudes of his unborn or newly-born creatures,
if their natural depravity did not render them proper
subjects of dissolution ?

It is true, the young beasts suffer and die, as well
as infants ; but it is only because they areinvolvedinour
misery. They partake of it, as the attendants of a
noble traitor share in his deserved ruin. Sin, that
inconceivably virulent and powerful evil, drew down
God's righteous curse upon all that was created for
man's use, as well as upon man himself. Hence
only springs the degeneracy and death, that turn
beasts to one promiscuous dust with mankind. Com-
pare Gen. iii. 17. Rom. v. 12. and viii. 22. We may
then justly infer from the sufferings and death of
still-born or new-born children, that man is totally
degenerate, and liable to destruction, even from his
mother's womb.

36 AN APPEAL, tfc. Part II.

V. ARGUMENT.

But take your leave of the infant corpse, already
buried in the womb, or deposited in a coffin of a span
long ; fix your attention on the healthy, sucking
child. See him stupidly staring in his nurse's lap, or
aukwardly passing through childhood to manhood.
How visible is his degeneracy in every stage I

Part of the divine image, in which he was made in
Adam, consisted in purity, power, and knowledge :
but now, he is naturally the least cleanly, as well as
the most helpless and ignorant of all animals. Yes,
if the reader could forgive the indelicacy of the asser-
tion, for the sake of its truth, I would venture to shew,
that there is no comparison between the cleanliness
of the little active animals, which suck the filthy
swine ; and of helpless infants, who suck the purer
breasts of their tender mothers. But, casting a veil
over the dribbling, loathsome, little creatures : with-
out fear of being contradicted, I aver, that the young
of those brutes, which are stupid to a proverb, know
their dams, and follow them as soon as they are drop-
ped ; whilst infants are months without taking any
particular notice of their parents, and without being
able, I shall not say to follow them, but even to bear
the weight of their swaddled body, or stand upon their
tottering legs.

With reference to the knowledge necessary for the
support of animal life, it is undeniable that brutes
have greatly the advantage of mankind. Fowls and
fishes, immediately and with amazing sagacity, sin-
gle out their proper nourishment, among a thousand
useless and noxious things : But infants put indif-
ferently to their mouth all that comes to their hand,
whether it be food or poison, a coral or a knife : And,
What is more astonishing still, grown up persons
scarce ever attain to the knowledge of the quantity,

Part II. AN APPEAL, &c. 3*

*r quality of the meat and drink, which are most sui-
table tc their constitutions.

All disordered dogs fix at once upon the salutary-
vegetable, that can (in some cases) relieve their dis-
tress : Bnt many physicians, even after several years
study and practice, hurt and sometimes kill their pa-
tients by improper medicines. Birds of passage by
mere instinct, find the north and the south more
readily than mariners by the compass. Untaught
spiders weave their webs, and uninstructed bees make
their combs to the greatest perfection : But fallen
man must serve a tedious apprenticeship to learn his
own business ; and with all the help of masters, tools,
and patterns, seldom proves an ingenious artist.

Again, other animals are provided with a natu-
ral covering, that answers the double end of useful-
ness and ornament : But indigent man is obliged to
borrow from plants, beasts, and worms, the materials
with which he hides his nakedness, or defends his
feebleness ; and a great part of his short life is,spent
in providing, or putting on and off garments the gaudy
* "tokens of his shame, or ragged badges of his fall.

Are not these plain proofs, that man, who accord-
ing to his superior rank, and primitive excellency,
should in all things have the pre-eminence, is now a
degraded being, cnrsed for his apostacy with native
uncleanliness, helplessness, ignorance, and nakedness
above all other animals ?

VI. ARGUMENT.

"Man's natural ignorance, great as it is, might
nevertheless be overlooked, if he had but the right
knowledge of his Creator. But alas I The holy and
righteous God judicially withdraws himself from his
unholy apostate creature. Man is%not properly ao
cjuaintedwithhimin whom he lives, and moves, and hath
s

38 AN APPEAL, &i. Part IX.

his being. This humbling truth may be demonstrated
by the following observations.

God is infinitely perfect ; all. the perfection which
is found in the most exalted creatures, is but the re-
flection of the transcendent effulgence, belonging to
that glorious Sun of spiritual beauty ; it is but the sur-
face of the unfathomable depths of goodness, and love-
liness, which regenerate souls discover in that bound-
less ocean of all excellence. If therefore men saw
God, they could far less heip being struck with holy
awe, overwhelmed with pleasing wonder, and ravish-
ed with delightful admiration, than a man born blind,
and restored to sight in the blaze of a summer's day,
could help being transported at the glory of the new
and unexpected scene.* Could we but see virtue in
all her beauty, said an heathen, she would ravish our
hearts : flow much greater would our ravishments
be, if we were indulged with a clear, immediate dis-
covery of the divine beauty, the eternal original of
r11 virtue, the exuberant fountain of all perfection and
delight ? But alas 1 how few thus behold, know, arid
admire God, may easily be seen by the impious or
vain conduct of mankind.

If a multititude of men ingenuously confess, they
know not the king ; iithey take his stetue, or one of
his attendants for him ; or if they doubt whether there
be a king ; or sport with his name and laws in his pre-
sence ; we reasonably conclude, that they neither see
nor know the royal person. And is not this the case
of the superstitious, who, like the Athenians, wor-
ship an unknown God ? Of idolaters, who bow to fa-
vourite mortals, or lifeless images, as to the true
God ? Of infidels, who doubt the very being c'fa God ?
And of open sinners, the bulk of mankind, who live
every where as if there was none ?

* Si virtus fccm.ricerettfr oculis, mirabiles amores exci'aret sni.
Cic,

Part If. AN APPEAL, b*c. 39

Our natural ignorance of God, manifests itself still
more evidently, by the confessions both of real and
nominal christians. 'The former, beiore they knew
God, and were admitted to behold his glory shining;
in the face of Jesus Christ, bitterly complained as
Isaiah, Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself ; cr
mournfully asked with David, How long wilt thou hide
thy face from me ? It is plain then, that, by nature,
they were as others, without God (practical atheists)
in the world, and have as much reason as St. Paul to.
declare, that the world by wisdom knew not God.

As for nominal christians, though they daily pray
that tiie fellowship of the Holy Ghost may be with
us all, it is evident they are utter strangers to commu-
nion with God by his Holy Spirit. For if we affirm,
that he blesses his children with a spiritual discovery
of his presence, and, manifests himself to them as he
doth not to the world, they say we are mad, or call us
enthusiasts. This behaviour, shews beyond all con-
fessions, that they are totally unacquainted with the
light of Goal's countenance : For what greater proof
can a blind man give, that he has no knowledge of the
sun, than to suspect his neighbour of lunacy, for af-
firming that sunshine is a delightful reality.

From this moral demonstration of our natural igno-
rance of God, I draw the following conclusion. If the
Lord, who is a mild and condescending king to all his
loyal subjects, a father full of endearing and tender
love to all his dutiful children, hides his face fiom
mankind in a natural state; and if what little they
know of him, is only by conjecture, hear-say, or * in-
ference ; it is a proof, that they are under his dis-
pleasure ; and consequently, that they are rebellious
fallen creatures.

* This is the knowledge of God mentioned, Rom i. 21. It is
sufficient to leave without excuse those who do not improve it till
they attain to the saving knowledge mentioned, John xvii. 3.
I John v. 20.

40 AN APPEAL, tfc- Part II.

For, what but rebellion could thus separate between
beings so nearly related, as an infinitely gracious
Creator, and favourite creatures, whose soul is, ac-
cording to an heathen, divime particula aurae ; and
according to Moses, the very breath of God ? We
may then rationally conclude with the evangelical pro-
phet, that our iniquities have separated between us and
our God, and that our sins have hid his face from us,
eclipsed the sun of righteousness, and brought such
darkness on our souls, that, by nature, we know nei-
ther what we are, nor what we should be ; neither
whence we come nor whither we are going ; neither
the grand business we have to do, nor the danger
that attends our leaving it undone.

VII. ARGUMENT.

If by nature mankind know not the Lord to be
their God, is it surprising that beasts should not know
mankind to be their lords ? Nevertheless reason agrees
with scripture in maintaining, that man, by far the
noblest work of God here below, should, according
to the reason and fitness of things, bear rule over all
the sublunary creation. But alas ! even in this re-
spect, How is the crown fallen from his head ! Infe-
rior animals have as little regard for him, as he has
for his God.

Notwithstanding his artful contrivances, greedy
birds and mischievous beasts eat up, trample down,
or destroy part of the fruit of his rural labour. In
warmer climes, armies of locusts, more terrible than
hosts of men, frequently darken the air, or cover the
ground, and equally mock at human power and craft.
Wherever they light, all verdure disappears, and the
summer's fruitfulness is turned into wintry desolation.

If locusts do not reach this happy island ; caterpil-
lars, and a variety of others seemingly insignificant,
but really formidable insects, make a more constant,

Part II. AN APPEAL, &c u

though less general attack upon our trees and gardens.
In vain are they destroyed by millions, they cannot bs
fully conquered ; and the yearly returning plague
forces the considerate spectator, to acknowledge the
finger of a sin-avenging providence.

Happy would it be for man, if rebellious animals
were satisfied with the produce of his fields and or-
chards : But alas ! They thirst after his blood, and
attack his person. Lions, tigers, rattle-snakes, cro-
codiles, and sharks, whenever they have an opportu-
nity, impetuously attack, furiously tear, and greedily
devour him. And what is most astonishing, the ba-
sest reptiles are not afraid to breed in his stomach, to
live in his very bowels, and to consume his inward
parts : while swarms of flying, leaping, or creeping-
insects, too vile to be named, but not to humble a
proud apostate, have the insolence to fix upon his
skin ; and by piercing or furrowing his flesh, suck
his blood, and feast upon him from his cradle to the
grave.

Domestic animals, it is true, do man excellent
service ; but is it not because he either forces, er
bribes them to it, by continual labour and expence,
with which he breaks and maintains them ? What
business have multitudes of men, but to serve the
drudges of mankind I What are smiths, farriers, far-
mers, servants, grooms, hostlers, &c. but the slaves
of brutes, washing, currying, shoeing, feeding, and
waiting upon them both by day and by night ?

And yet, notwithstanding the prerogative granted
to Noah's piety, Gen. ix. 2. and the care taken of
domestic animals, do they not rebel as often as they
dare ? Here, sheep deemed the quietest of all, run
astray, or break into the fields of a litigious neighbour :
There, the furious bull pursues and gores, or the
raging dog sets upon the inoffensive traveller. To
day you read, that an impetuous, foaming steed hath
hurried away, thrown oft', and dragged along his un-
fortunate master* whose blood sprinkling the dust*.
d 2

42 AN APPEAL, &c. Part II.

and brains dashed upon the stones, direct the search
of his disconsolate friend : And to-morrow you may
hear, that a vicious horse has darted his iron fenced
hoof into his attendant's breast or forehead, and has
lamed or killed him on the spot.

And would the wise governor of the world, the
kind protector of his obedient creatures, permit this
rebellion, even of the tamest aminals, and basest ver-
min against man, if man himself was not a daring re-
bel against him ?

VIII. ARGUMENT.

That a contemptible insect should dare to set
upon, and be able to devour a proud monarch, an
Herod in the midst of his guards, is terrible : But
the mischief stops not here. Numerous tribes of
other base animals are armed with poisonous tongues
or stings, and use them against jmankind with pecu-
liar rage. To say nothing of mad dogs, have not
asps, * vipers, tarantulas, scorpions, and other ve-
nomous serpents and insects, the destructive skill of
extracting the quintessence of the curse which sin,
our moral poison, hath brought upon the earth ? when
we come within their reach, do they not bite or sting
us with the utmost fury I and by infusing their subtle
venom in our blood, spread they not anguish and de-
struction through our agonizing frame ? answer, ye
thousands, who died in the wilderness of the bite of
fiery serpents : and ye multitudes, who in almost all
countries have shared their deplorable fate.

Let us descend to the vegetable world. How many
deceitful roots, plants, and fruits deposite their perni-
cious juices in the stomach of those, who unwarily
feed upon them I Did not Elisha, and the sons of the

* Some will say that viper's flesh is useful in physic. I grant
it ; but is the poison of that creature useful ? This must be proved
before the argument can be invalidated .

Part H. AN APPEAL, CsV. 4*

prophets narrowly escape being poisoned all together,
by one of them fatally mistaking a pot-herb ? And
do not many go quickly, or slowly to their grave by
such melancholy accidents ?

Minerals and metals are not the last to enter into
the general conspiracy against mankind. Under in-
offensive appearances, do not they contain what is
destructive to the animal frame r and have not many
fallen a sacrifice to their ignorance of the mischief
lurking in arsenic, and other * mineral productions ?
Nor are metallic effluvia less hurtful to hundreds ; and
the health of mankind is perhaps more injured by
copper alone, than it is preserved by all the mineral
waters in the world. : It is acknowledged, that num-
bers are poisoned by food prepared in utensils made
of that dangerous metal : and how many are insensi-
bly hurt by the same means, is only known to a wise
and righteous providence.

Thus God leaves us in the world, where mischief
lurks under a variety of things apparently useful,
without giving us the least intimation of destruction
near. To say that infinite goodness can deal thus
with innocent creatures, is offering violence to our
reason, and an affront to divine justice. Conclude then
with me, reader, that we have lost our original inno-
cence, and forfeited our creators favour.

IX. ARGUMENT.

But if the generality of mankind escape all the
various sorts of poison, do they escape the curse of
toil and sweat ? and is not a great majority of them,

* It is objected, that excellent remedies are prepared with an-
timony and mercury. But it is well known that the persons who
use them only expel one poison with another : as the decayed
constitutions of those who have frequent recourse to such violent
medicines abundantly prove.

44 AN APPEAL, &c. Part IL

reduced to such sordid want, and pressing necessity,
as to be obliged to do the greatest drudgery for a
wretched maintenance ?

When God made them to have dominion over
the works of his hands ; when he put ail things in
subjection under their feet, and crowned them with
glory and honour ; they filled up each happy hour in
evidencing their love to him and to each other ; they
spent their golden moments in admiring the variety
and beauty of his works, finding out the divine signa-
tures impressed upon them, swaying their mild scep-
ter over the obedient creation, and enjoying the rich, in-
corruptible fruits, which the earth spontaneously pro-
duced in the greatest perfection and abundance. Thus
their pleasure was without idleness or pain, and their
employment without toil or weariness.

But no sooner did disobedience open the flood-
gates of natural evil, than arduous labour came in,
full-tide, upon mankind ; and a thousand painful arts
were invented to mitigate the manifold curse which sin
had brought upon them.

Since the fall, our bodies are become vulnerable
and shamefully naked ; and it is the business of thou-
sands to maker or sell all sorts of garments for our de-
fence and ornament. The earth has lost her original
fertility ; and thousands more with iron instruments
open her bosom, to force her to yield us a mainte-
nance ; or with immense labour secure her pre-
carious, decaying fruits : Immoderate rains deprive
her of her solidity, and earthquakes or deluges de-
stroy her evenness ; numbers therefore are painfully
employed in making or mending roads. Each coun-
try affords some only of the necessaries or convenien-
cies of life ; this obliges the mercantile inhabitants
to transport, with immense trouble and danger, the
produce of one place, to supply the wants of another-
We are exposed to a variety of dangers : Our per-
sons and property must be secured against the incle-
mency of the weather, the attacks of evil beasts, and

Part II. AN APPEAL, &c. 45

assaults of wicked men : Hence the fatigue of
millions of workmen in wood and stone, metals and
minerals : and the toils and hazards of millions more,
who live by making, wearing, or using the various
instruments of war and slaughter.

Disorder and injustice give rise to government,
politics, and a labyrinth of laws ; and these employ
myriads of officers, lawyers, magistrates, and ru-
lers. We are subject to a thousand pains and mala-
dies ; hence myriads more prescribe and prepare re-
medies, or attend and nurse the sick. Our universal
ignorance occasions the tedious labour of giving and
receiving instruction, in all the branches of human
and divine knowledge. And to complete the whole,
the original tongue of mankind is confounded, and
even neighbouring nations are barbarians to each
other : from hence arise the painful lucubrations of
critics and linguists, with the infinite trouble of
teaching and learning various languages.

The curse introduced by sin is the occasion of all
these toils, They are soon mentioned, but alas ! how
long, how grievous do they appear to those that feel
their severity ? How many sighs have they forced
from the breasts, how much sweat from the bodies of
mankind ! Unite the former, a tempest might ensue :
Collect the latter, it would swell into rivers.

To go no further than this populous parish, with
what hardships, and dangers do our indigent neigh-
bours earn their bread 1 See those who ransack the
bowels of the earth to get the black mineral we burn :
How little is their lot preferable to that of the Spanish
felons, who work the golden mines ?

They take their leave of the light of the sun, and
suspended by a rope, are let down many fathoms per-
pendicularly towards the centre of the globe : They
traverse the rocks through which they have dug their
horizontal ways : The murderer's cell is a palace, in
comparison of the black spot to which they repair:

46 AN APPEAL, &c. Part IT.

The vagrant's posture in the stocks, is preferable to
that in which they labour.

Form if you can an idea of the misery of men
kneeling, stooping-, or lying on one side, to toil all day
in a confined place, where a child could hardly stand :
Whilst a younger company, with their hands and feet
on the black dusty ground, and a chain about tiieir
body, creep and drag along like four-footed beasts,
heavy loads of the dirty mineral, through ways almost
impassible to the curious observer.

In these low and dreary vaults all the elements
seem combined against them. Destructive damps
and clouds of noxious dust infect the air they breathe.
Sometime water incessantly distills on their naked
bodies ; or bursting upon them in streams, drowns
them and deluges their work. At other times, pieces
of detached rocks crush them to death, or the earth
breaking in upon them buries them alive. And fre-
quently sulphureous vapours, kindled in an instant by
the light of their candles, form subterraneous thunder
and lightening : What a dreadful phenomenon ! How
impetuous is the blast 1 How fierce the rolling flames I
How intolerable the noisome smell ! How dreadful
the continued roar I How violent and fatal the ex-
plosion 1

Wonderful providence ! some of the unhappy men
have time to prostrate themselves ; the fiery scourge
grazes their back, the ground shields their breasts ;
they escape. See them wound up out of the blazing
dungeon, and say if these are not brands plucked out
of the fire. A pestiferous steam, and clouds of suf-
focating smoke pursues them. Half dead them-
selves, they hold their dead or dying companions in
their trembling arms. Merciful God of Shadrach !
Kind protector of Meshech ! Mighty deliverer of
Abednego ! Patient preserver of rebellious Jonah !
Will not these utter a song.. ..a song of praise to thee
....praise ardent as the flames they escape.... lasting as

Part II. AN APPEAL, fcV. 47

the life thou prolongest i....Alas ! they refuse ! and
some....O tell it not among the heathens, lest they
for ever abhor the name of christian.. ..Some return to
the very pits, where tney have been branded with
sulphureous fire by tne warning hand of providence ;
and there, sporting themselves again with the most
infernal wishes, call aloud for a fire that cannot be
quenched, and challenge the Almighty to cast them
into hell, that bottomless pit whence there is no
return.

Leave these black men at their perilous work,
and see yonder barge-men hauling that loaded vessel
against wind and stream. Since the dawn of day,
they have wrestled with the impetuous current ; and
now, that it almost overpowers them, how do they
exert all their remaining strength, and strain their
every nerve ! How are they bathed in sweat and rain !
Fastened to their lines as horses to their traces, where-
in do they differ from the laborious brutes ? Not in an
erect posture of body, for in the intenseness of their
toil they bend forward, their head is foremost, and
their hands upon the ground If there is any differ-
ence, it consists in this : Horses are indulged with a
collar to save their breasts ; and these, as if theirs
was not worth saving, draw without one : The
beasts tug in patience, silence and mutual harmony ;
but the men with loud contention and horrible impre-
cations. O sin, what hast thou done ! Is it not
enough that these drudges should toil like brutes,
must they also curse one another like devils.

If you have gone beyond the hearing of their im-
pious oaths, stop to consider the sons of Vulcan con-
fined to these forges and furnaces. Is their lot much
preferable : a sultry air, and clouds of smoke and
dust, are the element in which they labour. The con-
fused noise of water falling, steam hissing, fire-en-
gines working, wheels turning, files breaking, ham-
mers beating, ore bursting, and bellows roaring, form
■ the dismal concert that strikes the ears : while a con-

48 AN APPEAL, &c. Part II.

tinual eruption of flames, ascending from the mouth
of their artificial voicanos, dazzle their eyes with an
horrible glare. Massy bars of hot iron are the heavy
tools they handle, cylinders of the first magnitude the
enormous weights they heave, vessels full of melted
metal the dangerous loads they carry., streams of the
same burning fluid the fiery rivers, which they con-
duct into the deep cavities of their subterraneous
moulds ; and millions of flying sparks, with a thou-
sand drops of liquid, hissing iron, the horrible show-
ers to which they are exposed. See them cast ; you
would think them in a bath and not in a furnace :
They bedew the burning sand with their streaming
sweat : Nor are their wet garments dried up, either
by the fierce fires that they attend, or the fiery streams
which they manage. Certainly, of all men, these
have reason to remember the just sentence of an of-
fended God : In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat
thy bread, all the days of thy life.

All indeed do not go through the same toil : but
all have their share of it. either in body or in mind.
Behold the studious son of learning ; his intense ap-
plication hath wasted his flesh, exhausted his spirits,
and almost dried up his radical moisture. Consider
the man of fortune : Can his thousands a year exempt
him from the curse of Adam ? No : he toils perhaps
harder in his sports and debaucheries, than the poor
plowman that works his estate.

View that corpulent epicure, who idles away tha
whole day, between the festal board and the dozing
couch. You may think that he, at least, is free from
the curse which I describe : but you are mistaken :
While he is living as he thinks, a life of luxurious
ease and gentle inactivity, he fills himself with crude
humours, and makes way for the gnawing gout and
racking gravel. See even now, how strongly he per-
spires, and with what uneasiness he draws his short
breath, and wipes his dewy, shining face 1 Surely he
toils under the load of an undigested meal. A porte-r

Part II. AN APPEAL, &c. 49

carries a burden upon his brawny shoulders, but this
wretch has conveyed one into his sick stomach. He
will not work ; let him alone, and ere long acute
pains will bathe him in as profuse a sweat as that of
the furnace-man ; and strong medicines will exercise
him to such a degree, that he will envy even the col-
lier's lot.

It is evident therefore, that mankind are under a
curse of * toil and sweat, according to the divine sen-
tence recorded by Moses ; and that they are frequent-
ly condemned by providence to as hard labour for life,
as wretched felons rowing in the galleys, or digging
in the mines. t But, as it is absolutely incredible, that
a good god, who by a word can supply the wants of
ail his creatures, should have sentenced innocent man-
kind tothese inconceivable hardships, to procure or en-
joy the necessaries of life; it is evident they are guilty,
miserable offenders

X. ARGUMENT.

Hard labour and sweat, make up but one of the
innumerable calamities, incident to the wretched in-
habitants of this world. Turn your eyes which way
you please, and you will see some flying from, others

* It has been asserted that the short pleasure of eating and
drinking makes amends for the severest toil The best way
to bring such idle, sensual objectors to reason would be to make
them earn every meal by 2 or 3 hours threshing. Besides what
great pleasure can those have in eating who actually starve, or
just stay gnawing hunger by food coaiser than that which tiieir
rich neighbours give to their dogs ?

f God's image disinherited of day,
Here plung'd in mines forgets a sun was made ;
There, beings deathless as their haughty lord,
Are haramer'd to the galling oar for life,
And plow the winter's wave and reap despair.

Young.

50 AN APPEAL, &c. Part II.

groaning under the rod of God ; and the greatest
number busily making a scourge for the backs of their
fellow creatures, or their own.

To pass ever the misery of the brute creation :
To say nothing of the subtility and rapaciousness,
with which (after the example of men*) they lay wait
for, and prey upon one another : To cast a veil over
the agonies of millions, that are daily stabbed, stran-
gled, shot, and even flead, boiled, or swallowed up
alive, for the support of man's life, or the indulgence
of his luxury : And not to mention again the almost
uninterrupted cries of feeble infancy : Only take no-
tice of the tedious confinement of childhood, the blasted
schemes of youth, the anxious cares of riper years,
and the deep groans of wrinkled, decrepid, tottering
old age. ...Fix your attention upon family trials : Here
a prodigal father ruins his children, or undutiful
children break the hearts of their fond parents : There,
an unkind husband embitters the life of his wife, or
an imprudent wife stains the honour of her husband :
A servant disobeys, a relation misbehaves, a son lies
ill, a tenant breaks, a neighbour provokes, a rival
supplants, a friend betrays, or an enemy triumphs :
Peace seldom continues one day.

Listen to the sighs of the afflicted, the moans of
the disconsolate, the complaints of the oppressed, and
shrieks of the tortured : Consider the deformity of the
faces of some, and distortion or mutilation of the
limbs of others : To awaken your compassion, f

* Eager ambition's fiery chase I see ;

I see the circling hunt of noisy men,

13ur?t Jaw's inclosure, leap the mounds of right,

Pursuing and pursued, each other's prey ;

As wolves, for rapine ; as the fox for wiles ;

Till death, that mighty hunter, earth's them all.

f Some for hard masters broken under arms,
In battle lopp'd away, with half their limbs,
Beg bitter bread thro' realms their valour sav'd.

Young.

Younc.

Part II. AN APPEAL, fcfr. 5 {

here a beggar holds out the stump of a thigh or an
arm : There, a ragged wretch hops after you, upon
one leg and two crutches ; and a little farther you
meet with a poor creature, using his hands instead of
feet, and dragging through the mire the cumbrous
weight of a body without lower parts .

Imagine, if possible, the hardships of those who
are destitute of one of their senses : Here, the blind
is guided by a dog, or gropes for his way in the blaze
of noon : There, the deaf lies on the brink of danger,
inattentive to the loudest calls : Here, sits the dumb
sentenced to eternal silence : There, dribbles the idiot
doomed to perpetual childhood ; and yonder the pa-
ralytic shakes without intermission, or lies senseless,
the frightful image of a lifeless corpse.

Leaving these wretched creatures, consider the
tears of the disappointed, the sorrows of the captive,
the anxieties of the accused, the fcars of the guilty,
and terrors of the condemned. Take a turn through
jails, inquisitions, houses of correction, and places of
execution. Proceed to the mournful rooms of the
languishing, and wearisome beds of the sick ; and
let not the fear of seeing human woe, in some of its
most deplorable appearances, prevent you from visit-
ing hospitals, infirmaries, and bedlams :

A place

Before your eyes appears, sad, noisom, dark,
A lazar-house it seems, wherein are laid
Numbers of all diseas'd : all maladies
Of ghastly spasm, or racking torture, qualms
Of heart-sick agony, all fev'rcus kinds,
Convulsions, epilepsies, fierce catarrhs,
Intestine stone, and ulcer, cholic-pangs,
Dcemoniac phrenzy, moping melancholy,
And moon-struck madness, pining atrophy,
Marasmus, and wide-wasting pestilence,
Dropsies, and asthma's, and joint-racking rheums.
Dire is the tossing 1 Deep the groans ! Despair

52 AN APPEAL, Wc. Part II-

Attends the sick, busiest from couch to couch :
And over them, triumphant Death his dart
Shakes ; but delays to strike, tho' oft invoked
With vows, as their chief-good j and final hope.

Milton

To close the horrible prospect, view the ruins of ci-
ties and kingdoms, the calamities of wrecks and sieges,
the horrors of sea-fights and fields of battle ; with
all the crimes, devastations, and cruelties, that accom-
pany revenge, contention, and war ; and you will be
obliged to conclude with Job, that corrupt man is born
to trouble as the sparks fly upwards ; with David,
that the earth is full of darkness and cruel habita-
tions ; and with every impartial enquirer, that our
depravity, and God*s justice, concur to make this
world a vale of tears as well as a field of toil and
sweat ; a vast prison for rebels already " tied with the
chains of their sins," a boundless scaffold for their ex-
ecutiSija golgotha, ?,n aceldama, an immense field of
torture and blood.

Some will probably say ; " This picture of the
world is drawn with black lines, but kinder providence
blends light and shade together, and tempers our ca-
lamities with numberless blessings." I answer : It
cannot be too thankfully acknowledged, that while pa-
tience suspends the stroke of justice, God," forChrist's
sake, restores us a thousand forfeited blessings, that his
goodness many lead us to repentance. But alas !
What is the consequence, where divine grace does not
prove victorious over corrupt nature ? To all our sins,
do we not add the crime of either enjoying the favours
of providence with the greatest ingratitude, or of abu-
sing them with the most provoking insolence.

Our actions are far more expressive of our real sen-
timents, than our words. Why this variety of exqui-
site food, says the voluptuary, whose life loudly speaks
what his lips dare not utter ? Why this abundance of
delicious wines, but to tempt my unbridled appetite,

Part II. AN APPEAL, &c. 53

and please my luxurious palate ?.... Would God have
given softness to silks, brightness to colours, and lus-
tre to diamonds, says the self- applauding- smile of a
foolish virgin, who worships herself in a glass? Would
he have commanded the white of the lilly thus to meet
the blush of the rose, and heighten so elegant a pro
portion of features, if he had not designed that the uni-
ted powers of art, dress, and beauty, should make me
share his divine honours ?....Why are we blessed with
dear children and amiable friends, says the ridiculous
behaviour of fond parents and raptured lovers, but
that Ave should suspend our happiness on their ravishing
smiles, and place them as favourite idols in the shrine
of our hearts ?....And why has heaven favoured me
both with a strong constitution, and an affluent fortune,
says the rich slave of brutish lusts, but that I may
drink deeper of earthly joys and sensual delights ?

Thus blessings abused or unimproved, become
curses in our hands : God's indulgence encourages us
to offend him: We have the fatal skill of extracting; poi-
son from the sweetest flowers ; and madly turn the gifts
of providence into weapons, to attack our Benefactor
and destroy ourselves. That there are then such per-
verted gifts, docs not prove that mankind are innocent,
but that God's patience endureth yet daily, and that a
Saviour ever liveth to make intercession for us.

Should it be farther objected, that " our pleasures
counter-balance our calamities :" I answer : The
greatest part of mankind are so oppressed with want
and cares, toil and sickness, that their intervals of ease
may rather be termed " an alleviation of misery," than
an enjoyment of happiness." Our pains are real and
lasting, cur joys imaginary and momentary. Could
we Cxercise all our senses upon the most pleasing ob-
jects, thetooth-ach would render all insipid and bur-
densome : a fit of the gout alone damps every worldly
joy, while all earthly delights together cannot give ujs
ease under it : So vastly superior is the bitterness cf
e 2

54 AN APPEAL, tfc. Part II

one bodily pain, to the sweetness of all the pleasures of
sense !

If objectors still urge, that " sufferings are need-
ful for our trial :" I reply, they are necessary for our
punishment and correction, but not for cur trial. A
good king can try the loyalty of his subjects, without
putting them to the rack. Let Nero and Bonner try
the innocent by ail sorts of tortures, but let not their
barbarity be charged upon a God strictly just, and infi-
nitely good.

However " calamities prove a blessing to some."
And so does transportation : But who ever inferred
from thence, that reformed felons were transported
for the trial of their virtue, and not for the punishment
of their crimes ? I conclude therefore, that our calami-
ties and miseries demonstrate our corruption, as
strongly as the punishments of the bastinado and pil-
lory, appointed by an equitable judge, prove the guilt
of those, on whom they are frequently and severely in-
flicted.

XL ARGUMENT.

Would to God the multiplied calamities of life,
were a sufficient punishment, for our desperate wick-
edness ! But alas 1 they only make way for the pangs
of death. Like traitors, or rather like wolves and
vipers, to which the Son of God compares natural
men, we are all devoted to destruction. Yes, as we
kill those mischievous creatures, so God destroys the
sinful sons of men.

If the reader is offended, and denies the mortify-
ing assertion, let him visit with me the mournful
spot, where thousands are daily executed, and where
hundreds make this moment their dying speech. I
cV> not mean what some call " the bed of honour," a
&.ld of battle, but a common death-bed.

Part II. AN APPEAL, Vc. 55

Observing, as we go along, those black trophies
of the king of terrors, those escutcheons, which pre-
posterous vanity fixes up in honour of the deceased,
when kind charity should hang them out as a warning
to the living ; let us repair to those mournful apart-
ments, where weeping attendants support the dying,
where swooning friends embrace the dead, or whence
distracted relatives carry out the pale remains of all
their joy.

Guided by their groans and funeral lights, let us
proceed to the dreary charnel-houses and calvaries,
which we decently call vaults and church-yards : And
without stopping to look at the monuments of some,
whom my objector remembers as vigorous as him-
self ; and of others, who were perhaps his partners
in nightly revels ; let us hasten to see the dust of his
mouldered ancestors, and to read upon yonder coffins
the dear name of a parent, a child, perhaps a wife,
turned off' from his bosom into the gulph of eternity.

If this sight does not convince him, I shall open
one of the noisome repositories, and shew him the
deep hollows of those eyes, that darted tender sensa-
tion into his soul ; and odious reptiles fattened upon
the once charming, now ghastly face, he doted upon.
But, methinks he turns pale at the very proposal, and,
rather than be confronted with such witnesses, ac-
knowledges that he is condemned to die, with all his
dear relatives, and the whole human race.

And is this the case r Are we then under sen-
tence of death ? How awful is the consideration ! Of
all the things that nature dreads, is not death the
most terrible ? And is it not (as being the greatest of
temporal evils) appointed by human and divine laws,
for the punishment of capital offenders ; whether
they are named felons and traitors, or more genteelly
called men and sinners ? Let matter of fact decide.

Whilst earthly judges condemn murderers, and
traitors, to be hanged or beheaded ; does not the
Judge of all, sentence sinful mankind, either to pine

56 AN APPEAL, &c. Part II.

away with old age, or be wasted with consumptions,
burned with fevers, scalded with hot humours, eaten
up with cancers, putrified by mortifications, suffoca-
ted by asthmas, strangled by quinseys, poisoned by
the cup of excess, stabbed with the knife of luxury,
or racked to death by disorders as loathsome, and ac-
cidents as various as their sins ?

If you consider the circumstances of their execu-
tion, where is the materal difference between the
malefactor and the sinner ? The jailor and the turn-
key confine the one to his cell : The disorder and the
physician confine the other to his bed. The one lives
upon bread and water : The other upon draughts and
boluses. The one can walk with his fetters : The
other loaded with blisters can scarcely turn himself.
The one enjoys freedom from pain, and has the per-
fect use of his senses : The other complains he is
racked all over, and is frequently delirious. The ex-
ecutioner does his office upon the one in a few minutes :
But the physician and his medicines make the other
linger for days, before he can die out of his misery.
An honest sheriff, and constables armed with staves,
wait upon one : while a greedy undertaker and his
party, with like emblems of authority, accompany
the other : And if it is any advantage to have a nume-
rous attendance, without comparison the felon has the
greater train.

When the pangs of death are over, does not the
difference made between the corpses consist more in
appearance than reality ? The murderer is dissected
in the surgeon's hall, gratis, and the rich sinner is
embo welled in his own apartment at great expence. ••
The robber exposed to open air, wastes away in hoops
of iron ; and the gentleman confined to a damp vault,
moulders away in sheets of lead : And while the fowls
of the air greedily prey upon the one, the vermin of
the earth eagerly devour the other.

And if you consider them as launching into the
world of spirits ; is not the advantage, in one^ re-

Part II. AN APPEAL, Vc. 57

spect, on the malefactor's side ? He is solemnly as-
sured he must die ; and when the death-warrant
comes down, all about him bid him prepare, and
make the best of his short time : But the physician
and chaplain, friends and attendants, generally flatter
the honourable sinner to the last : And what is the
consequence ? He either sleeps on in carnal security,
till death puts an end to all his delusive dreams ; or,
if he has some notion that he must repent, for fear
of discomposing his spirits, he still puts it off till to-
morrow ; and in the midst of his delays God says,
Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee.
What wonder is it then, if when the converted thief
goes from the ignominious tree to paradise, the im-
penitent rich man passes from his purple bed, into an
awful eternity, and there lifts up his eyes in unexpected
torments ?

If these are truths too obvious to be denied, wilt
thou, Sinner, as the thoughtless vulgar, blunt their
edge, by saying, with amazing unconcern, " Death is
a debt we must all pay to nature r" Alas ! This is
granting the point ; for if all have contracted so
dreadful a debt, all are in a corrupt and lost estate.
Nor is this debt to be paid to nature, but to justice ;
otherwise dying would be as easy as sleeping, or any
other natural action : But it is beyond expression ter-
rible to thee, from whose soul the Redeemer has not
extracted sin, the monster's sting : And if thou dost
not see it now in the most alarming light, it is be-
ca.use either thou imaginest it at a great distance ; or
the double veil of rash presumption, and brutish stu-
pidity, is yet upon thy hardened heart.

Or wilt thou, as the poor heathens, comfort thy-
self with the cruel thought, that "thou shalt not die
alone ?" Alas ! dying companions may increase, but
cannot take off the horror of dissolution, Besides,
though we live in a crowd, we generally die alone :
Each must drink that bitter cut, as if he were the
only mortal in the universe.

58 AN APPEAL, isfc. Part II.

What must we do then, in such deplorable cir-
cumstances ? What ! But humble ourselves in the
dust, and bow low to the sceptre of divine jus-
tice ; confessing that since the righteous God has con-
demned us to certain death, and in general to a far
more lingering and painful death, than murderers and
traitors are made to undergo, we are certainly degene-
rate creatures and capital offenders, who stand in abso-
lute need of an Almighty Redeemer.

Permit me now, candid reader, to make a solemn
appeal to thy reason assisted by the fear of God.
From all that has been advanced, does it not appear,
that man is no more the favoured, happy, and innocent
creature he was, when he came out of the hands of
his infinitely gracious Creator ? And is it not evident
that, whether we consider him as bcrn into this disor-
dered world, or dying out of it, or passing from the
womb to the grave, under a variety of calamitous cir-
cumstances, God's providential dealings with him,
prove that he is by nature in a corrupt and lost estate ?

A part, how small ! of this terraqueous glebe

Is tenanted by man, the rest a waste.

Rocks, deserts, frozen seas, and burning sands,

Wild haunts of monsters, poisons, stings, and death ;

Such is earth's melancholy map ; but far

More sad, this earth is a true map of man ;

So bounded are its haughty lord's delights

To woe's wide empire, where deep troubles toss,

Loud sorrows howl, invenom'd passions bite,

Ravenous calamities our vitals seize,

And threat'ning fate wide opens to devour.

Yovxg.

- *
it *.♦

THIRD PART.

WE have hitherto considered man as a mi-
serable inhabitant of a wretched world. \Ve have
seen him surrounded by multitudes of wants : pur-
sued by legions of distresses, maladies, and woes ;
arrested by the king of terrors : cast into the grave ;
and shut up there, the loathsome prey of corruption
and worms. Let us now consider him as a moral
agent ; and by examining his disposition, character,
and conduct, let us see whether he is wisely punish-
ed, according to the sentence of impartial justice ;
or wantonly tormented, at the caprice of arbitrary
power.

We cannot help acknowledging, it is highly rea-
sonable, first, that all intelligent creatures should
love, reverence, and obey their Creator ; because he
is most eminently their Father, their Master, and
their King : Secondly, that they should assist, sup-
port, and love each other, as fellow subjects, fellow
servants, and children of the same universal parent: and
thirdly, that they should preserve their souls and
bodies in peace and purity ; by which means alone
they can be happy in themselves, profitable to man,
and acceptable to God. This is what we generally
call natural religion, which is evidently founded upon
eternal' reason, the fitness of things, and the essential
relation of persons.

60 AN APPEAL, Wc. Part III.

The propriety of these sanctions is so self-evident
that the Gentiles, who have not the written law, are
a law unto themselves, and do (but alas ! how sel-
dom and from what motives !) the things contained
in the law, thus shewing that the work, the sum and
substance of the law, though much blotted by the
fall, is still written in their heart. Nor will it be
erased thence in hell itself ; for nothing but a sight of
the equity of God's law, can clear his vindictive jus-
tice in the guilty breast, give a scorpion's sting to the
worm that gnaws the stubborn offender, and arm
his upbraiding conscience with a whip of biting ser-
pents.

Since the moral law so strongly recommends it-
self to reason, let us see how universally it is observ-
ed or broken ; So shall matter of fact decide, whether
we are pure and upright, or polluted and depraved.

XII. ARGUMENT.

Those who reject the scriptures, universally agree
that all have sinned, and that in many things we of-
fend all. Hence it appears, that persons of various
constitutions, ranks, and education ; in all nations,
religions, times, and places ; are born in such a state
and with such a nature, that they infallibly commit
many sins in thought, word or deed.

But one transgression would be sufficient, to ren-
der them obnoxious to God's displeasure, and to
bring them under the fearful curse of his broken law :
For, even according to the statutes of this realm, a
man, who once robs a traveller of a small sum of
money, forfeits his life ; as well as the bloody high-
wayman, who for years barbarously murders all those
whom he stops, and acumulates immense wealth by
his repeated barbarities.

The reason is obvious : Both incur the penalty
of the law which forbids robbery ; for both effectually

Part III. AN APPEAL, Ofc. 61

break it, though one does it oftner, and with far
more aggravating circumstances than the other. So
sure then as one robbery deserves the gallows, one
sin deserves death : for the soul that sinne.th, says
God's law, and not the soul that committeth so many
sins, of such or such an heinousness, it shall die.
Hence it is, that the first sin of the. first man was
punished both with spiritual and bodily death, and
with ten thousand other evils. The justice of this
sanction will appear in a satisfactory light, if we con-
sider the following remarks.

1 . In our present natural state, we are such stran-
gers to God's glory, and the spirituality of his law ;
and we are so used to drink the deadly poison of ini-
quity like water, that we have no idea of the horror,
which should sieze upon us, after a breach of the di-
vine law. We are therefore as unfit judges of the
atrociousness of sin, as lawless, hardened assassins,
who shed human biood like water, are of the heinous-
ness of murder.

2. As every wilful sin arises from a disregard of
that sovereign authority, which is equally stamped
upon all the commandments; it hath in it the princi-
ple and nature of all possible iniquity, that is, the
disregard and contempt of the Almighty.

3. There is no proper merit before God, in the
longest and most exact course of obedience, but infi-
nite demerit in one, even the least act of wilful diso-
bedience. When we have done all that is command-
ed us,we are still unprofitable servants ; for the self-
sufficient God has no more need of us, than a mighty
monarch, of the vilest insects that creep in the dust
beneath his feet ; And our best actions, strictly speak-
ing, deserve absolutely nothing from our Creator and
Preserver, because we owe him all we have, and are,
and. can possibly do. But if we transgress in one
point, we ruin ail our obedience, and expose ourselves
to the just penalty of his broken law. The follow-
ing example may illustrate this observation.

j

62 AN APPEAL, &c. Part III.

If a rich man gives a thousand meals to an indi-
gent neighbour, he acts only as a man, he does no-
thing but his duty ; and the judge allows him no re-
ward. But if he gives him only one dose of poison,
he acts as a murderer, and must die a shameful
death : So greatly does one act of sin outweigh a
thousand acts of obedience 1 How exceedingly ab-
surd then, is the common notion, that our good
works counter-balance our bad ones ! Add to this, that
>4. Guilt necessarily rises in proportion to the base-
ness of the offender, the greatness of the favours con-
ferred upon him, and the dignity of the person of-
fended. An insulting behaviour to a servant is a
fault, to a magistrate it is a crime, to a king it is
treason. And what is wilful sin, but an injury offer-
ed by an impotent rebel, to the infinitely powerful
lav-giver of the universe, to the kindest of benefactors,
to the gracious Creator and preserver of men. ...an
insult given to the supreme Majesty of heaven and
earth, in whose glorious presence the dignity of the
greatest potentates and arch-angels, as truly disap-
pears as the splendour of the stars in the blaze of the
meridian sun ? Sin therefore flying into the face of
such a law-giver, benefactor and monarch, has in it
a kind of infinite demerit from its infinite object ; and
rebellious, ungrateful, wretched man, who commits
it a thousand times with a thousand aggravations,
may, in the nervous language of our church, be said
in some sense, to deserve a thousand hells if there
were so many.

XIII. ARGUMENT.

Our natural depravity manifests itself by constant
omissions of duty, as much as by flagrant commis-
sions of sin, and perhaps much more. Take one
instance out of many, that might be produced. Con-
stant displays of preserving goodness, and presents.

Part III. AN APPEAL, &c. 63

undeservedly and uninterruptedly bestowed upon us,
deserve a perpetual tribute of heart-felt gratitude :
God demands it in his law ; and conscience, his agent
in our souls, declares, it ought in justice to be paid.

But where shall we find a deist, properly con-
scious, of what he owes the supreme being, for his
" creation, preservation, and ali the blessings of this
life ?" And where a christian duly sensible of" God's
inestimable love in the redemption of the world by
our Lord Jesus Christ V9 A due sense of his ever
multiplied mercies, would fill our souls with never-
ceasing wonder, and make our lips overflow with rap
turous praise. The poet's language would suit our
grateful sensations, and without exaggeration paint
the just ardour of our transports.

Bound ev'ry heart, and ev'ry bosom burn.
Praise, flow for ever (if astonishment
Will give thee leave) my praise, for ever flow :
Praise ardent, cordial, constant, &c.

Is not any tiling short of this thankful frame of
mind, a sin of omission, a degree of ingratitude,
of which all are naturally guilty ; and for which, it is
to be feared, the best owe ten thousand talents both
to divine goodness and justice ?

Throwr only a few bones to a dog, and you ran
him : He follows you : Your word becomes his law :
Upon the first motion of your hand he fiies through
land and water to execute your commands : Obedi-
ence is his delight, and your presence his paradise :
He convinces you of it by all the demonstrations of
joy, which he is capable of giving : And if he unhap-
pily loses sight of you, he exerts all his sagacity to trace
your footsteps ; nor will he rest, till he finds his
benefactor again.

Shall a brute be so thankful to a man for some of-
fals, while man himself is so full of ingratitude to God
who created him, preserves, his life from destruction.

64 AN APPEAL, life. Part III.

and hourly crowns him with mercies and loving-kind-
ness I How should shame cover our guilty faces !
Surely if the royal prophet coukl say, he was as a beast
before God ; may we not well confess, that in point of
gratitude, we are worse than the dullest, and most
stupid part of the brute creation ? For even the ox
says the Lord, knoweth his owner, and the ass his
master's crib ; but Israel doth not know me, my peo-
ple doth not consider my daily favours. And if the
very heathens 'affirmed, that *to call a man ungrate-
ful to an human benefactor was to say of him all possi-
ble evil in one word ; how can we express the base-
ness and depravity of mankind, who are universally so
ungrateful, to so bounteous a benefactor as God
himself?

XIV. ARGUMENT.

But, though we seem made of cold inattention,
when the sight of divine mercies should kindle onr
heart into gratitude and praise ; we scon get out of
this languid frame of mind : For, in the pursuit of
sensual gratifications, we are all activity and warmth :
we seem an ardent compound of life and fire.

What can be the reason of this amazing differ-
ence ?.... What but rebellious sense, and wanton appetite,
raised at the sight or idea of seme forbidden cbjtct I
The bait of pleasure appears, corruptnature summons all
her powers, every nerve of expectation is stretched ;
every pulse of desire beats high : theblocdis in a gene-
ral ferment ; the spirits are in an universal hurry ;
and though the hook of a fatal consequence is often
apparent, the alluring bait must be swallowed. The
fear of God, the most inestimable of all treasures, is
already gone ; and if the sinful gratification cannot

Ingratum si diieris, omnia dicis. ]vr.

Part III. AN APPEAL, &c. 65

be enjoyed upon any other term, a good reputation
shall go also. Reason indeed makes remonstrances ;
but the loud clamours of flesh and blood, soon drown
her soft whispers. The carnal mind ste<ps impe-
riously upon the throne : Sense, that conquers the
greatest conquerors, bears down all opposition : The
yielding man is led captive by a brutish lust ; and
while angels blush, there is joy in hell over the ac-
tual, and complete degradation of an heaven-born
spirit.

Some indeed affirm, that these conflicts suit a
state of probation and trial. But it is evident that either
our temptations are too violent for our strength? or
our strength too weak for our temptations ; since,
notwithstanding the additional help of divine grace,
there never was a mere mortal, over whom they never
triumphed.

Nor can we exculpate ourselves by pleading, that
these triumphs of sense over reason, are neither long
nor frequent. Alas ! how many perpetrate an act of
wickedness in a moment, and suffer death itself for a
crime which they never repeated !

See that chrystal vessel. Its brightness and brit-
tleness represent the shining, and delicate nature of
true virtue. If I let it fall, and break it, what avails it
to say, " I never broke it before.... I dropped it but
once. ...I am excessively sorry for my carelessness....
I will set the pieces together, and never break it
again :" Will these excuses and resolutions prevent
the vessel from being broken.. ..broken for ever ? the
reader may easily make the application.

Even heathen moralists, by their fabulous account
of the companions of Ulysses, turned into swine, up-
on drinking once of Circe's enchanted cup, teach us,
that one fall into sensuality, turns a man into a brute ;
just as one slip into unchastity or dishonesty, changes
a modest woman into a strumpet, or an honest man
i&to atliief. Again.

F 2

66 AN APPEAL, *&. Part III.

Ought not reason to have as absolute a command
over appetite, as a skilful rider has over a well bro-
ken horse ? But suppose we saw all horsemen univer
sally mastered, one time or other, by their beasts ;
and forced, though but for a few minutes, to receive the
bit, and go or stop at the pleasure of the wanton brutes :
Should we not wonder, and justly infer, that man had
lost the kind of superiority, which he still maintains
over domestic animals ? And what then, but the com-
monness of the case, can prevent our being shocked,
when we see rational creatures overcome, and led
captive by carnal appetites ? Is net this the wanton,
rebellious beast mounting upon his vanquished, das-
tardly rider ?

We may then conclude, that the universal rebel-
lion of our lower faculties against our superior powers,
and the triumph? of sense over reason, demonstrate,
that human nature has suffered as fatal a revolution,
as these kingdoms did, when a degraded king was seen
bleeding on the scaffold, and a base usurper lording it
in the seat of majesty.

XV. ARGUMENT.

Happy would it be for us, if our fall manifested
itself only by some transient advantages of sense over
reason. But alas 1 the experience of the best demon-
strates the truth of Isaiah's words, the whole head
js sick.

To say nothing of the gross stupidity, and uncon-
querable ignorance, that keep the generality of man-
kind just above the level of brutes ; how strong, how
clear is the Understanding of men of sense in worldly
■affairs I How weak, bow dark in spiritual things I How
few idiots are there, but can distinguish between the
shadow and the substance, the cup and the liquor, the
dress and the person 1 But how many learned men, to

Part III. AN APPEAL, <Jc. &7

this day, see no difference between water-baptism
and spiritual regeneration, between the means of grace
and grace itseLf, between the form and the power of
godhness ! at our devotions, is not our mind gene-
rally like the roving butterfly ; and at our favourite
diversions, and lucrative business, like the fastening
leach I Can it not fix itself or any thing sooner than
on the one thing needful ; and find out any way, be-
fore that of peace and salvation ?

What can be more extravagant than our Imagina-
tion ? Kow often have we caught this wild power,
forming and pursuing phantoms, building and pul-
ling down castles in the air ! how frequently hath it
raised us into proud conceits, and then sunk us into
gloomy apprehensions ! and where is the man, that it
never led into such mental scenes of vanity and lewd-
ness, as would have made him the object of universal
contempt, if the veil of a grave and modest counte-
nance, had not happily concealed him from public
notice ?

And has our Memory escaped unimpaired by the
fall ? Alas ! let us only consider, how easily we for-
get the favours of our Creator, and recollect the in-
juries of our fellow-creatures ; how little we retain of
a good book or pious discourse, and how much of a
play or frivolous conversation : and how exactly we
remember an invitation to a party of pleasure, whilst
the loudest calls to turn 10 God and prepare for death,
are no sooner heard than forgotten.... Let us, I say,
consider these things, and we shall be forced to con-
fess, that this useful power loses like a sieve the liv-
ing water of truth, drinks in like a spunge the muddy
streams of vanity, and is never so retentive, as when
it is excited by revenge, or some other detestable
temper.

" A wretch that is condemned to die to-morrow
cannot forget it," says Baxter ; " yet poor sinners, who
are uncertain to live an hour, and certain speedily to
see the Majesty of the Lord, to their inconceivable joy

68 AN APPEAL, UV. Part III.

or terror, can forget these things, for which they have
their memory; and which, one would think, should
drown the matters of this world, as the report of a can-
non does a whisper, or as the sun obscures the poorest
glow-worm. O wonderful stupidity of an unrege-
nerate soul I O astonishing distraction of the ungodly 1
That ever men can forget eternal joy, eternal woe, the
eternal God, and the place of their unchangeable abode ;
when they stand even at the door, and there is but the
thin veil of flesh between them, and that amazing sight,
that eternal gulph, into which thousands are daily
plunging."

Nor does our * Reasvn make us amends for the de-
fects of our other faculties. Its beams, it is true,
wonderfully guide some persons through the circle of
sciences, and the mazes of commercial or political af
Fail's. But when it should lead us in the search of the
truth which is after godliness, unless it is assisted
from above, how are its taint rays obstructed by the
gross medium of flesh and blood, broken by that of pas-
sion, and sometimes lost in that of prejudice I Wise
sons of reason, learned philosophers, your two hun-
dred and eighty eight opinions concerning the chief
good, are a multiplied proof of my sad assertion : all
miss the mark. Not one of them makes the supreme
felicity to consist in the knowledge and enjoyment of
God, the amiable and adorable parent of all good.

True reason, alas ! is as rare as true piety. The
poor thing, which, in spiritual matters, the world calls
reason, is only the ape of that noble faculty. How
partial, how unreasonable f i i this false pretender J. If

* By reason I mean that power, by which we pass judgment
upon, and draw inferences from what the understanding ha* sim-
ply apprehended.

t Our earth's the bedlam of the universe,
Where reason (undiseas'd in heaven) runs mad,
And nurses folly's children as her own,
Fotsd of the foulest.

Yovng.

Part III. AN APPEAL, &c. 69

it does not altogether overlook the awful realities of the
invisible world, which is too frequently the case ! how
busy is it to reason away faith, and raise objections
against the most evident truth, * even that which I now

* A late publication in vindication of Pelagianism appears to me
no small instance of this. The Rev. Author take* his estimate of
human nature, not fiom universal experience, but his indulged
imagination ; not from St. Paul the chief of the apostles, but from
Dr. Taylor, to whom he acknowledges his obligations for several
of the best passages in his sermon. Passing over the exposition of
his text, where he oddly supposes that our Lord meant, by the
drawings of God, the natural powers of man ; which is as reason-
able as to suppose, that when he said, without me ye can do no-
thing, he meant that me should signify ourselves :. -Passing this
over, I shall just point out his capital mistake He tells us, that
all our faculties and powers are good and beautiful in their order?
[that they were so before the fall is fully granted] and tend natu-
rally to the happiness both of the individual and the system; and
he adds, that How weak soever and imperfect our intellectual fa-
culties may be, yet to speak reproachfully of them in general is a
species of blasphemy against our Creator. If to expose the present
weakness of our rational faculties, and shew how greatly they are
disordered and impaired by the fall, is what this divine calls speak-
ing reproachfully of them, have not the best men been found guilty
of this pretended blasphemy ? How far the Apostles and Refor-
mers carried it, may be seen in the first part of this treatise. How
he can clear himself of it, as a subscriber to the 9th, 10th, and
35th articles of our church, I cannot see : And by what means he
will justify his conduct to the world, in receiving hundreds a year
to maintain the doctrine of the church of England, while he pub-
licly exposes it as a species of blasphemy, is still a greater mystery.
Far from seeing that all the faculties and powers, by which this is
done, are good and beautiful, I cannot help thinking that some of
them are materially defective ; and that though such a conduct
may very much tend to the emolument of the individual, it has
little tendency to the happiness of the system. For may part,
were I to commence advocate for the uprightness of human na-
ture, 1 would save appearances, lest Dr. Taylor himself should say,

Non defensoribus istis, &c But dropping this point, I appeal to

common sense : Who is most gulity of blasphemy against our Crea-
tor ; he who says God made man both holy and happy, affirming that
the present weakness of our rational powers, is entirely owing to
the original apostacy of mankind : Or he. who intimates, that the
gracious Author of our being, formed our intellectual faculties
weak and imperfect as they now are ? If it is not the latter, my

understanding is strangely defective. In vain does this learned

divine tell us, that the candle of the Lord which was lighted up
in man at first, when the inspiration of the Almighty gave him

70 AN APPEAL, Vc. Part III.

contend for ? And when right reason has been worsted
by sense, how ready is the impostor to plead against
the faculty which it personates ! How skilful in cloak-
ing bad habits under the genteel name of" human foi-
bles!" And how ingenious, in defending the most ir-
rational and dangerous methods of losing time, as « in-
nocent sports, and harmless diversons 1"

These observations, which must appear self-evi-
dent to all, who know the world or themselves, inccn-
testably prove the degeneracy of all our rational
powers, and consquently the universality of our natu-
ral corruption.

XVI. ARGUMENT.

When the whole head is sick, is not the whole
heart faint ? Can our will, conscience, and affections,
run parallel to the line of duty ; when our understand-
ing, imagination, memory, and reason are so much
warped from original rectitude ? Impossible ! Eperi-
ence, thou best of judges, I appeal to thee. Erect
thy fair tribunal in the reader's breast, and bear an
honest testimony to the truth of the following asser-
tions.

Our frilly in general is full of obstinacy : We must
have our own way, right or wrong. 'Tis pregnant
with inconstancy : we are passionaelty fond of a thing

understanding, was not extinguished by the original apostacy, but
has kept burning ever since, and that the divine flame has catched
from father to son, and has been propagated quite down to the
present generation. If it is reasonable to charge with a species of
blasphemy those, who reverence their Creator too much, to father
our present state of imperfection upon him, I must confess my
reason fails : 1 have outlived the divine flame for one, or it never

catched from my father to me A fear lest some well-meaning

person should mistake the taper of Pelagins, or the lamp of Dr.
Taylor, for the candle of the Lord, and follow it in the destruc-
tive paths of error, extorts this note from my pea- See the objec-
tions that follow the xxii. Argument.

Part III. AN APPEAL, Ufc. 7\

one day, and tired of it the next : We form good re-
solutions in the morning, and break them before night.
'Tis impotent : When we see what is right, instead
of doing it with all our might we frequently remain
as inactive, as if we were bound by invisible chains ,
and we wonder by what charm, the wheels of duty
thus stop against our apparent inclination : till we dis-
cover that the spring of our will is broken, or natu
rally works the wrong way : Yes, it is not only unable
to follow the good, that the understanding approves ;
but full of perverseness to pursue the evil, that reason
disapproves : We are prone to do, contrary to our de-
sign, tiiose things which breed remorse and wound
conscience ; and sooner or later, we may all say with
the heathen princess, who was going to murder her
child,

* Video meliora, proboque,
Deteriora sequor.

Nor is Conscience itself untainted. Alas : how
slow is it to reprove in some cases ! In others, how
apt not to do it at all ! In one person, it is easy under
mountains of guilt ; and in another, it is unreasonably
scrupulous about mere trifles : It either strains out a
gnat, or swallows a camel : When it is alarmed, in
some it shews itself ready to be made easy by every
wrong method ; in others, it obstinately refuses to be
pacified by the right. To day, you may with pro-
priety compare it to a dumb dog, that does not bark
at a thief ; and to-morrow, to a snarling cur, that flies
indifferently at a friend, a foe, or a shadow ; and then
madly turns upon himself, and tears his own flesh.

If conscience, the best power of the unconverted
man, is so corrupt, Good God 1 what are his Affec-

* If the reader wants to know the English of these words, he
may find it, Rom. vii. 15.

72 AN APPEAL, 6Tt. Part III.

tions ? Almost perpetually deficient in some, and ex-
cessive in others, when do they attain to, or stop at,
the line of moderation I Who can tell, how oft he has
been the sport of their irregularity and violence 1
One hour we are hurried into rashness by their impe-
tuosity : the next, we are bound in sloth by their in-
activity. Sometimes every blast of foolish hope, or ill-
grounded fear ; every gale of base desire, or unrea-
sonable aversion ; every wave of idolatrous love, or
sinful hatred ; every surge of misplaced admiration,
or groundless horror ; every billow of noisy joy, or
undue sorrow, tosses, raises, or sinks our soul ; as a
ship in a storm, which has neither rudder nor ballast.
At other times, we are totally becalmed ; all our sails
are furled, not one breath of devout or human afiec-
tion stirs in our stoical, frozen breast ; and we remain
stupidly insensible, till the spark of temptation, drop-
ping upon the combustible matter in our hearts, blows
us up again into loud passion : And then, how dread-
ful and ridiculous together, is the new explosion !

If experience pronounces, that these reflections are
just, the point is gained. Our whole heart is faint,
through the unaccountable disorders of our will, the
lethargy or boisterous fits of our conscience, and the
swooning or high fever of our affections : And we
may without hypocrisy, join in our daily confession,
and say, There is no health in us.

XVII. ARGUMENT.

The danger of these complicated maladies of our
souls,evidences itself by the niostfetal of all symptoms,
our manifest alienation from God. Yes, shocking as
the confession is, we must make it, if truth has any
dominion in our breast : Unrenewed man loves not his
•■God. That eternal beauty, for whose contemplation ;
that supreme good, for whose enjoyment he w?s cre-
ated, is generally forgotten, despised, or hated. If the

Part III. AN APPEAL, isfc. 73

thought of his Holy Majesty presents itself, he looks
upon it as an intruder : It lays him under as disagree-
able a restraint, as that, which the presence of a grave,
pious master puts upon a wanton idle servant: Nor can
he quietly pursue his sinful courses, till he has driven
away the troublesome idea; or imagined, with the Epi-
cure, a careless God, who wants resolution to call him
to an account, and justice to punish him for his ini-
quity.

Does any one offer an indignity to his favourite
friend, or only speak contemptibly of the object of hi*
esteem, he feels as if he was the person insulted, and
reddening with indignation directly espouses his cause:
But every body, the meanest of his attendants not ex-
cepted, may with impunity insult the King of kings in
his presence, and take the most prophane liberties with
his name and word, his laws and ministers : He hear*>
the wild blasphemy, and regards it not ; he sees the
horrid outrage, and resents it not ; and yet amazing
infatuation ! he pretends to love God.

If he goes to the play, he can fix his roving eyes and
wandering mind, three hours together upon the same
trifling object, not only without weariness but with
uncommon delight. If he has an appointment with the
person, whom he adores as a deity; his spirits are ele-
vated, expectation and joy flutter in his dilated breast :
He sweetly anticipates the pleasing interview, or im-
patiently chides the slowly flowing minutes : His feel*
ings are inexpressible. But if he attends the great
congregation, which he too often omits upon the most
frivolous pretences, it is rather out of form and de-
cency, than out of devotion and love ; rather with indif-
ference or reluctance, than with delight and transport.
And when he is present there, how absent are hi*
thoughts ! How wandering his eyes ! How trifling, su-
pine, irreverent * his whole behaviour ! he would be

* Men homage pay to men,

Thoughtless beneath whose dreadful eye they bow

74 AN APPEAL, Wc. Part III.

ashamed to speak to the meanest'of his servants with
as little attention as he sometimes prays to the Ma-
jesty of heaven. Were he to stare about when he
gives them orders, as he does when he presents his
supplications to the Lord of lords, he would be afraid
that they would think he was half drunk, or had a touch
of lunacy.

Suppose he still retains a sense of outward decency,
while the church goes through her solemn offices ; yet
how heavy are his spirits I How heartless his confes-
sions ; how cold his prayers i the blessing comes at
last, and he is blessed indeed.. ..not with the grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy
Ghost, for that he gladly leaves to " poor enthusiasts,"
but with a release from his confinement and tedious
work. And now that he has " done his duty, and ser-
ved God," he hastes away to the company that suits
his taste.

See him there. Do not his very looks declare, he
is in his own element ?" With what eagerness of spirit,
energy of gesture, and volubility of tongue, does he
talk over his last entertainment, chase, or bargain? Does
not the oil of cheerfulness make all his motions as free
and easy, as if weight and friction had no place at all
in his light and airy frame ?

Love of God, thou sweetest, strongest of all powers,
didst thou ever thus metamorphose his soul, and im-
part such a sprightly activity to his body ? and youj
that converse most familiarly with him, did you ever!
hear him say ? Come and I will tell you what the Lord
has done for my soul : Taste, and see how good the
Lord is.... No, never ; for out of the abundance of the
heart the mouth speaketh ; Nor can it be expected

In mutual awe profound, of clay to clay,
Of guilt to guilt, ^nd turn their backs on Thee,
Great Sire ! whom thrones celestial ceaseless sing;
To poatrate aiigels an amazing scene !

Young.

Part III. AN APPEAL, Wc. 75

that God, who hath no place in his joyous reflections,
should have one in his cheerful conversation. On
the contrary, it will be matter of surprise to those who
introduce the delightful subject of the love of God, if
he does not wave it off, as dull, melancholy, or enthu-
siastical.

But as he will give you to understand, "he is no hy-
pocrite, and therefore confines devotion to his closet,"
follow him there.... Alas ! he scarce ever bends the knee
to him that sees in secret: Or, if he says his prayers
as regularly as he winds his watch, it is much in the
same spirit : For suppose he does not hurry them over,
or cut them as short as possible ; yet the careless, for-
mal manner in which he offers them up, indicates as
plainly as his public conduct, the aversion lurking in
his heart against God : And yet he fancies he loves
him : With a sneer that indicates self-appiause, and a
pharisaic contempt of others ; " Away with all your
feelings and rapures, say he, This is the love of God
that we keep his commandments. But alas ! which
of them does he keep ! Certainly not the first... .for the
Lord is not the supreme object of his hopes and fears,
his confidence and joy : Nor yet the last.. ..for discon-
tent and wrong desires are still indulged in his selfish
and worldly heart. How unfortunate therefore is his
appeal to the commandments, by which his secret
enmity to the law, government, and nature of God is
brought to the clearest light !

XVIII. ARGUMENT.

But as the heart-felt love of God is supposed to be
downright enthusiasm by some moralists, who dash-
ing in pieces the first table of the law against the se-
cond, pretend that all our duty to God consists in the
love of our neighbour; let us examine the uncon-
verted man's charity, and see whether he bears more
love to his fellow -creatures, than to his Creator.

76 AN APPEAL, Ufc. Part III.

Nothing can be more erroneous than his notions of
charity. He confounds it with the bare giving of alms;
not considering that it is possible to do this kind of
good, from the most selfish and uncharitable motives.
Therefore, when the fear of being accounted covetous,
the desire of passing for generous, the vanity of seeing
his name in a list of noble subscribers, the shame of
being outdone by his equals, the teazing importunity of
an obstinate beggar, the moving address of a solicitor
whom he would blush to deny, or the pharisaic notion
of making amends for his sins and purchasing heaven
by his alms....wjien any, I say, of these sinister mo-
tives sets him upon assisting industrious poverty, reliev-
ing friendless old age, or supporting infirm and mu-
tilated indigence, he fancies, that he gives an indubi-
table proof of his charity.

Sometimes too he affixes to that word, the idea of
a fond hope, that every body is going to heaven : For
if you intimate, that the rich voluptuary is not with
Lazarus in Abrahams's bosom, and that the foolish
virgins are not promiscuously admitted to glory with
the wise, he wonders at " your un charitableness," and
thanks God " he never entertained such unchristian
thoughts of his neighbours."

He considers not, that charity is the fair offspring of
the love of God, to which he is yet an utter stranger ;
and that it consists in an universal, disinterested bene-
volence to all mankind, our worst enemies not excepted:
a benevolence, that sweetly evidences itself by bearing
with patience the evil which they do to us, and kindly
doing them all the good we possibly can, both with re-
spect to their soul and body, their property and repu-
tation.

If this is a just definition of charity, the unrenewed
man has not even the outside of it. To prove it, I
might appeal to his impatience and ill-humour, his un-
kind words and cutting railleries (for I suppose him too
moral ever to slander or curse any one :) 1 might men-
tion his supercilious behaviour to some, who are intitledi

Part III. AN APPEAL, &c. 77

to his affability as men, countrymen and neighbours :
I might expatiate on his readiness to exculpate, en-
rich, or aggrandize himself at the expence of others,
whenever he can do it without exposing himself.

But waving all these particulars, I ask : Whom
does he truly love ? You answer : " Doubtless the per-
son to whom he makes daily protestations of the warm-
est regard." But how does he prove this regard ?

Why, perhaps by the most artful insinuations, and
dangerous attempts to rob her of her virtue. Perhaps
he has already gained his end.... Unhappy Magdalen !
How much better would it have been for thee, to have
fallen into the hands of an highway -man ? Thou
wouldst only have lost thy money, but now thou art de-
spoiled of the honour of thy sex, and the peace of thy
mind : thou art robbed at once of virgin innocence,
a fair reputation, and possibly an healthy constitution.
If this is a specimen of the unconverted man's love,
what must be his hatred I

But I happily mistake : " He is no libertine, he has a
virtuouswife,and amiable children, and he loves them,"
say you, " with the tenderest affection." I reply, that
these relations, being immortal spirits, confined for a
few years, in a tenement of clay, and continually on
the remove for eternity : his laudable regard for their
frail bodies, and proper care of their temporal prospe-
rity, are not a sufficient proof, that he loves them in a
right manner. For even according to * wise heathens,
our soul is our better part, our true self. And what
tender concern does the unrenewed man feel for the
soul of his bosom friend ? Does he regard it more than
the body of his groom, or the life of his horse ? Does
he, with any degree of importunity, carry it daily in the
arms of love and prayer, to the throne of grace for life
and salvation ? Does he, by good instructions, and a

• * Nos non corpora sumus : Corpus quidem vas est aut aliquod*
animi receptaculum- Cic. Tusc. Qusest.lib.U
G 2

7S AN APPEAL, Ifc. Part flL

Yirtuous example, excite his children to secure an
eternal inheritance ? and is he at least as desirous to
see them wise and pious ; as well-bred, rich, hand-
some, and great ? alas ! I fear it is just the reverse*
He is probably the first to poison their tender minds,
with some of the dangerous maxims, that vanity and
ambition have invented : and, supposing he has a fa-
vourite dog, it is well if he is not more anxious for the
preservation of that one domestic animal, than for the
salvation of all their souls.

If these observations are founded upon matter of
fact, as daily experience demonstrates, I appeal to
common sense, and ask : Can the natural man, with all
his fondness, be said to have a true love even for his
nearest relatives ? And is not the regard that he ma-
nifests for their bodies, more like the common instinct,
by which doves cleave to their mates, and swallows
provide for their young ; than like the generous affec-
tion, which a rational creature ought to bear to im-
mortal spirits, awfully hovering in a scale of probation,
which is just going to turn for hell or heaven.

XIX. ARGUMENT.

Nor is it surprising, that the unrenewed man
should be devoid of all true love to his nearest rela-
tions : for he is so completely fallen, that he bears no
true love even to himself. Let us overlook those
who cut their throats, shoot, drown, or hang them-
selves. Let us take no notice of those who sacrifice a
year's health for a night's revel ; who inflame their
blood into fevers, or derive putrefaction into their
bones, for the momentary gratification of a shameful
appetite ; and are so hot in the pursuit of a base plea-
sure, that they leap after it ev^en into the jaws of an
untimely grave : Let us, I say, pass by those innu-
merable, unhappy victims of intemperance, and de-
bauchery, who squander their money upon panders

Part III. AN APPEAL, \fc. 79

and harlots, and have as little regard for their healthy
as for their fortune and reputation ; and let us consi-
der the case of those good-natured, decent persons*
who profess to have a real value for both.

Upon the principle laid down in the last argu-
ment, may I not ask, What love have these for their
immortal part, their time self ? What do they do for
their souls ? Or rather what do they not leave un-
done ? And who can shew less concern for their
greatest interest than they ?

Alas ! in spirtual matters, the wisest of them seem
on a level with the most foolish. They anxiously se-
cure their title to a few possessions in this transitory
world, out of which the stream of time carries them
with unabated impetuosity ; while they remain * stu-
pidly thoughtless of their portion in the unchangeable
world, into which they are just going to launch : They
take particular notice of every trivial incident in life,
every idle report raised in their neighbourhood, and
supinely overlook the great realities of death and judg-
ment, hell and heaven.

You see them perpetually contriving how to pre-
serve, indulge, and adorn their dying bodies; and
daily neglecting the safety, welfare, and ornament of
their immortal souls. So great is their folly, that
earthly toys make them slight heavenly thrones I So

* Time flies, death urges, knells call, heaven invites,.
Hell threatens ; all exerts ; in effort all :
More than creation labours ! labours more I
And is there in creation, what, amidst
This tumult universal, wing*d dispatch,
And ardent energy, supinely yawns ?
Man sleeps ; and man alone ; and man, whose fate,
Fate irreversible, in tire, extreme,
Endless, hair-hung, breeze-shaken, o'er the gulph
A moment trembles ; drops ! and man, for whom
All else is in alarm, man, the sole cause
Of this surrounding storm ! and yet he sleeps,
As the storm rock'd to rest ,

Ywic.

80 AN APPEAL, &c. Part III.

wilful their self-deception, that a point of time * hides
from them a boundless eternity 1 So perverted is their
moral taste, that they nauseate the word of truth, the
precious food of souls, and greedily run upon the
tempter's hook, if it is but made of solid gold, or gilt
over with the specious appearance of honour, or only
baited with the prospect of a favourite diversion. And
whilst, by uneasy fretful tempers, they too often im-
pair their bodily health ; by exorbitant affections and
pungent cares, they frequently break their hearts, or
pierce themselves through with many sorrows.

Does such a conduct deserve the name of well-
ordered self-love, or preposterous self-hatred ? O man,
sinful man, how totally art thou depraved, if thou art
not only thine own most dangerous enemy, but often
thy most cruel tormentor I

XX. ARGUMENT.

This depravity is productive of the most detestable
brood. When it has suppressed the love of God, per-
verted the love of our neighbour, and vitiated self-
love; it soon gives birth to a variety of execrable
tempers, and dire affections, which should have no
place but in the breast of fiends, no out-breaking but
in the chambers of hell.

If you ask their name : I answer.... Pride, that
odious vice, which feeds on the praises it slyly pro-
cures, lives by the applause it has meanly courted

And is it in the flight of threescore years
To push eternity from human thought,
And bury souls immortal in the dust ?
A soul immortal spending all her fires,
Wasting her strength in strenuous idleness ;
Thrown into tumult, raptur'd, or alarm'd,
At ought this scene can threaten, or, indulge,
Resembles Ocean into tempest wrought
To waft a feather, or to drown a fly.

Young.

Part III. AN APPEAL, &c. ,81

and is equally stabbed by the reproof of a friend,
and the sneer of a foe.. ..The spirit of independence,
which cannot bear controul, is gaiLed by the easiest
yoke, gnaws the slender cords of just authority, as if
they were the heavy chains of tyrannical power ; nor
ever ceases struggling till they break, and he can
say : " Now I am my own master.". ...Ambition and
Vanity, which, like Proteus, take a thousand shapes,
and wind a thousand ways, to climb up to the high
seat of power, shine on the tottering stage of honour,
wear the golden badge of fortune, glitter in the gaudy
pomp of dress, and draw by distinguishing appear-
ances, the admiration of a gaping multitude. ...Sloth,
which unnerves the soul, enfeebles the body, and
makes the whole man deaf to the calls of duty, loath
to set about his business, (even when want, fear, or
shame drives him to it) ready to postpone or omit it
upon any pretence, and willing to give up even the in-
terests of society, virtue and religion, so he may saun-
ter undisturbed, doze the time away in stupid inacti-
vity, or enjoy himself in that dastardly indolence,
which passes in the world for quietness and good-na-
ture....Envy, that looks with an evil eye at the good
things our competitors enjoy, takes a secret pleasure
in their misfortunes, under various pretexts exposes
their faults, slyly tries to add to our reputation what
it detracts from theirs, and stings our heart when they
eclipse us by their greater success or superior excel-
lencies....Covetousness, which is always dissatisfied
with its portion, watches it with tormenting fears, in-
creases it by every sordid mean, and turning its own
executioner, justly pines for want over the treasure,
it madly saves for a prodigal heir.... Impatience, which
frets at every thing, finds fault with every person, and
madly tears herself under the distressing sense of a
present evil, or the anxious expectation of an absent
good.... Wrath, which distorts our faces, racks our
breasts, alarms our households, threatens, curses,
stamps and storms even upon imaginary or trifling

82 AN APPEAL, fcfr. Part III.

provocations... Jealousy, that through a fatal skill in
diabolical optics, sees contempt in all the words of a
favourite friend, discovers infidelity in all his actions,
lives upon the wicked suspicions it begets, and turns
the sweets of the mildest passion into wormwood and
gall.... Idolatrous love, which preys upon the spirits,
consumes the flesh, tears the throbbing heart, and
when it is disappointed, frequently forces its wretched
slaves to lay violent hands upon themselves. ...Hatred,
of our fellow-creatures, which keeps us void of tender
benevolence, a chief ingredient in the bliss of angels ;
and fills us with some of the most unhappy sensations
belonging to accursed spirits. ...Malice, which takes an
unnatural, hellish pleasure in teazing beasts, and hurt-
ing men in their persons, properties, or reputation....
And the offspring of malice, Revenge, * who always
thirsts after mischief or blocd ; and shares the only
delight of devils, when he can repay a real or fancied
injury seven-fold. ...Hypocrisy, who borrows the cloke
of religion ; bids her flexible muscles imitate vital
piety ; attends at the sacred altars, to make a show of
her fictitious devotion ; there raises her affected zeal
in proportion to the number of the spectators ; calls
upon God to get the praise of man ; and lifts up
adulterous eyes and thievish hands to heaven, to pro-
cure herself the good things of the earth... .And hy-
pocrisy's sister, narrow-hearted Bigotry, who pushes
from her civility and good-nature, stops her ear*

Man hard of heart to man ! Of horrid things

Most horrid ! Midst stupendous, highly strange !

Yet oft his courtesies are smoother wrongs ;

Pride brandishes the favours he confers,

And contumelious his humanity :

What then his vengeance ? Hear it not, ye stars !

And thou pale moon ! turn paler at the sound,

Man is to man the sorest, surest ill

Heav'ns Sovereign saves all beings, but himself,
That hideous sight, a naked human heart.

Younc.

Part IIL AN APPEAL, &c. 83

against arguments and entreaties ; calls huguenots,
infidels, papists, or heretics, all who do not di-
rectly subscribe to her absurd or impious creeds ;
dogs them with a malignant eye ; throws stones or
dirt at them about an empty ceremony, or an indiffer-
ent opinion ; and at last, if she can, sets churches or
kingdoms on fire, about a turban, a surplice, or a
cowl....Perfidiousness, who puts on the looks of true
benevolence, speaks the language of the warmest af-
fection ; with solemn protestations invites men to de-
pend on her sincerity, while she lays a deep plot for
their sudden destruction ; and with repeated oaths be-
seeches heaven to be witness of her artless innocence,
while she moves the center of hell to accomplish her
dire designs. The fatal hour is come ; her stratagem
has succeeded ; and she now kisses and betrays, drinks
health and poisons ; offers a friendly embrace, and
gives a deadly stab.... Despair, who scorns to be be-
holden to mercy, gives the lie to all the declarations is-
sued from the throne of grace, obstinately turns his
wild eyes from the great expiatory sacrifice ; and at
last, impatient to drink the cup of trembling, wildly
looks for some weapon to destroy himself.... Distrac-
tion, begotten by the shocking mixture of two, or
more of these infernal passions raised to the highest
degree of extravagance : Distraction, that wrings her
hands, tears her dishevelled hair, fixes her ghastly
eyes, turns her swimming brains, quenches the last
spark of reason ; and like a fierce tiger, must at last
be chained by the hand of caution, and confined with
iron bars in her dreary dwelling.

And to close the dismal train, Self-murder, who
always points wretched mortals to ponds and rivers,
or presents them with cords, razors, pistols, daggers,
and poison, and perpetually urges them to the choice
of one of them. " You are guilty, miserable crea-
tures, whispers he : The sun of prosperity is for ever
set, the deepest night of distress is come upon you :
You are in a hell of w^oe : The hell prepared for sa-

84 AN APPEAL, Ife Part III.

tan, cannot be worse than that which you feel, but it
may be more tolerable : Take this, and boldly force
your passage out of the cursed state in which you
groan." He persuades, and his desperate victims,
tired of the company of their fellow-mortals, fly for
refuge to that of devils : they shut their eyes ; and,
horrible to say ! But how much more horrible to do !
Deliberately venture from one hell into another to
seek ease ; or, to speak with more truth, leap with
all the miseries of a known hell, into all the horrors
of one which is unknown.

And are your hearts, O ye sons of men, the fa-
rourite seats of this infernal crew ? Then shame on
the wretch that made the first panegyric on the dig-
nity of human nature ! He proved my point : He
began in pride, and ended in distraction.

Detestable as these vices and tempers are, where
is the natural man, that is always free from them ?
Where is even the child ten years old, who never felt
most of these vipers, upon some occasion or other,
shooting their venom through his lips, darting their
baleful influence through his eyes, or at least stirring
and hissing in his disturbed breast ? If any one never
felt them, he may be pronounced more than mortal :
But if he has, his own experience furnishes him with
a sensible demonstration, that he is a fallen spirit, in-
fected with the poison that rages in the devil him-
self.

XXI. ARGUMENT.

Bad roots, which vigorously shoot in the spring,
will naturally produce their dangerous fruit in sum-
mer. We may therefore go one step further, and
ask, where is the man thirty years old, whose depra-
vity has not broke out into the greatest variety of sin-
ful acts ? among the persons of that age, who never
were esteemed worse than their neighbours, shall wc

Part III. AN APPEAL, Ufc. S5

find a forehead that never betrayed daring insolence ?
....A cheek, that never indicated concealed guilt by an
involuntary blush, or unnatural paleness ?....A neck,
that never was stretched out in pride and vain confi-
dence ?.... An eye, that never cast a disdainful, malig-
nant or wanton look ?....An ear, that an evil curiosity
never opened to frothy, loose ordefaming discourse ?....
A tongue, that never was tainted with unedifying,
false, indecent, or uncharitable language ?....A palate,
that never became the seat of luxurious indulgence ?
....A throat, that never was the channel of excess ?....
A stomach, that never felt the oppressive load of
abused mercies ?.... Hands, that never plucked, or
touched the forbidden fruit of pleasing sin ?....Feet,
that never once moved in the broad, downward road
of iniquity ?....And a bosom, that never heaved under
the dreadful workings of some exorbitant passion ?
Where, in short, is there a face ever so disagreeable,
that never was the object of self- worship in a glass ?
And where a body, however deformed, that never
was set up as a favourite idol, by the fallen spirit that
inhabits it ?

If iniquity tkus works by all the powers, and
breaks out through all the parts of the human body ;
we may conclude by woful experience, not only that
the plague of sin is begun, but that it rages with uni-
versal fury ; and to use again the evangelical pro-
phet's words, that from the sole of the foot, even to
the head of the natural man, there is no spiritual
soundness in him, but wounds, and bruises, and pu-
trefying sores.

XXII. ARGUMENT.

What can be said of each individual, may, with

the same propriety, be affirmed of all the different

nations of the earth. Let an impartial judge take

four unconverted men, or children, from the four parts

it

S3 AN APPEAL, &c Part III.

of the world : Let .him examine their actions, and
trace them back to their spring ; and, if he 'makes
some allowance for the accidental difference of their
climate, constitution, taste, and education ; he will
soon find their disposition as equally earthly, sensual,
and devilish, as if they had all been cast in the same
mould. Yes, as oak-trees are oaks all the world oveiy
though by particular circumstances some grow taller
and harder, and some more knotted and crooked than
others : So all unregenerate men resemble one an-
other ; for all are proud, self-willed, impenitent, and
lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.

Do not sloth, gluttony, drunkenness, and un-
cleanness ; cheating, defrauding, stealing, and op-
pression ; lying, perjury, treachery and cruelty ; stalk
openly, or lurk secretly every where ? Are not all
these vices predominant among black and white peo-
ple, among savage and civilized nations, among Turks
and Jews, heathens and christians ? whether they live-
on the banks of the Ganges or the Thames, the Mis-
issippi or the Seine ? Whether they starve in the
snows of Lapland, or burn in the sands of Guinea ?

O Sin, thou fatal pest, thou soul -destroying plague,
would to G od thy fixed abode were only in the Le-
vant ! and that, like the external pestilence, thou wert
chiefly connned to the Turkish dominions ! But alas :
the gross immorality and profaneness, the various
crimes and villanies, the desperate impiety and wild
blasphemy,' under which every kingdom and city have
groaned, and still continue to do night and day, over
the face of the whole earth, are black spots so similar,
und symptoms so equally terrible, that we are obliged
to confess they must have a common internal princi-
ple ; which can be no other than a bad habit of soul ;
a fallen corrupted nature. Yes, the universality and
equality of the effects, shew to an unprejudiced mind,
that the cause is universal, and equally interwoven
with the nature, which is common to all nations, and
remains the same in ail countries and ages.

Part III. AN APPEAL, Wfe. 87

FIVE OBJECTIONS.

I. If the self-righteous moralist answers, that " sin
and wickedness are not so universal as this argument
supposes :" I reply that the more we are acquainted
with ourselves, with the history of the dead, and
secret transactions of the living ; the more we are
convinced, that, if all are not guilty of outward enor-
mities, all are deeply tainted with spiritual wicked-
ness.

Even those excellent persons who, like Jeremiah,
have been in part sanctified before they came forth
out of the womb, can from sad experience confess with
him, that the heart is deceitful above all things, and say
. with David, My heart showeth me the wickedness of
the ungodly.

Thousands indeed boast of the goodness of their
hearts : they natter themselves that to be righteous,
it is enough to avoid the gross acts of intemperance
and injustice : with the pharisees they shut their
eyes against the destructive nature of the love of the
world, the thirst of praise, the fear of men, the love of
ease, sloth, sensuality, indevotion, self-righteousness,
discontent, impatience, selfishness, carnal security,
unbelief, hardness of heart, and a thousand other spi-
ritual evils. Full of self-ignorance, like Peter, they
imagine there is no combustible matter of wickedness
in their breasts, because they are not actually fired
by the spark of a suitable temptation. And when
they hear what their corrupt nature may one day
prompt them to, they cry out with Hazael, Am I a
dog, that I should do this thing ? Nevertheless, by
and by they do it, if not outwardly as he did, at least
in their vain thoughts by day, or wicked lewd imagi-
nations by night. So true is the wise man's saying i
He that trusteth his own heart is a fool.

II. " If histories give us frequent accounts of the
" notorious wickedness of mankind (says the aclvo-
" cates for human excellence) it is because private

B8 AN APPEAL, &c. Part III.

" virtue is not the subject of history : and to judge
" of the moral rectitude of the world by the corrup-
" tion of courts, is as absurd as to estimate the health
" of a people from an infirmary ."

And is private vice any more the subject of his-
tory than private virtue ? If it were, what folios would
contain the fulsome and black accounts of all the lies
and scandal, the secret grudges and open quarrels,
the filthy talking and malicious jesting, the unkind or
unjust behaviour, the gross or refigned intemperance,
which deluge both town and country ?

Suppose the annals of any one numerous family
were published, how many volumes might be filled with
the detail of the undone fondness, or forbidden cold-
ness ; the variance, animosity, and strife, which break
out between husbands and wives, parents and chil-
dren, brothers and sisters, masters and domestics, up-
per and lower servants, &c. What ridiculous, imper-
tinent scenes would be opened to public view ! What
fretfulness, dissimulation, envy, jealousy, tale-bearing,
deceit 1 What concealed suspicions, aggravated
charges, false accusations, underhand dealings, ima-
ginary provocations, glaring partiality, insolent beha-
viour, loud passions !

Was even the best moralist to write the memoirs
of his own heart, and give the public a minute ac-
count of all his impertinent thoughts, and wild imagi-
nations ; how many paragraphs would make him
blush ! How many pages, by presenting the astonished
reader with a blank or a blot, would demonstrate the
truth of St. Paul's assertion, They are all gone out of
the way, there is none that doeth good, none but spoils,
his best works by a mixture of essential evil ! Far
then from finding * " those vastly superior numbers,
" who in safe obscurity are virtuously and innocently
" employed," we may every where see the truth of

* See the note [mark'd * ]p. 69.

Part III. AN APPEAL, tfc. 89

the confession, which our objectors make in the
church, "There is no health in us/'

I say every where, for is cabal confined to court,
any more than lewdness to the army, and prophane-
ness to the navy ? Does not the same spirit of self-
interest and intrigue which influences the choice of
ministers of state, preside also at the election of mem-
bers of parliament, mayors of corporate towns, bur-
gesses of boroughs, and petty officers in a country
parish ? We may then, (notwithstanding the unfortu-
nate comparison, on which this objection is founded)
conclude without absurdity, that as all men, sooner or
later, by pain, sickness, and death, evidence their na-
tural weakness and mortality'; whether they live in
infirmaries, palaces, or cottages : So all men, sooner
or later, by their thoughts, words and actions, demon-
strate their natural corruption ; whether they crowd
the jail-yard, the drawing-room, or the obscure green
of a country village.

III. The same objectors will probably reply :'fIf
corruption is universal, it cannot be said to be equal ;
for numbers lead a very harmless, and not a few a very
useful life."

To this I answer, that all have naturally an evil
heart of unbelief, forgetful of, and departing from the
living God. In this respect, there is no difference, all
the world is guilty before God. But thanks be to
the Father of mercies, all do not remain so. Many
cherish the seed of supernatural gra.ce, which we have
from the Redeemer ; they bow to his scepter, become
new creatures, depart from iniquity, aud are zealous
of good works. And the same gracious power, that
has renewed them, is at work upon thousands more ;
hourly restraining them from much evil, and daily ex-
citing them to many useful actions.

With respect to the harmlessness, for which
some unrenewed persons are remarkable, it cannot
spring from abetter nature than that of their fei low-
mortals j for the nature of all men, like that of all wolves,
H 2

90 AN APPEAL, &c. Part III.

is the same throughout the whole species. It must
then be owing to the restraing grace of God, or to a
happier constitution, a stricter education, a deeper
sense of decency, or a greater regard for their charac-
ter : perhaps only to the fear of consequences, and to
the want of natural boldness, or of a suitable tempta-
tion and fair opportunity to sin. Nor are there lew,
who pass for temperate, merely because the diaboli-
cal pride lurking in their heart, scorns to stoop so low,
as to indulge their beastly appetites : While others
have the undeserved reputation of good-natured, be-
cause they find more deiight in quietly gratifying their
sheepish indolence or brutal desires, than in yielding
to the uneasy, boisterous tempers, which they have in
common with devils.

As to the virtues by which some of the unconver-
ted distinguish themselves from others, they either
spring from God's preventing grace, or are only vices
in disguise. The love of praise, the desire of honour,
and the thirst of gold, excite thousands to laudable
designs, and useful actions. Wicked men, set on work
by these powerful springs, do lying wonders in the
moral world, as the magicians did in the land of Egypt.
They counterfeit divine grace, and for a time seem
even to cut-do believers themselves. Hence it is,
that we frequently see the indolent industrious, the
coward brave, the covetous charitable, the pharisee
religious, the magdalen modest, and the dastardly
slave of his lusts a bold asserter of public liberty.
But the searcher of hearts is not deceived by fair ap-
pearances : he judges of their actions according to the
motives whence they spring, and the ends for which
they are performed : You are, says he to all these
seemingly virtuous sinners, like wkited sephulchres,
which indeed appear beautiful outwardly ; but with-
in are full of dead men's bones, and of all unclean-
ness.

Were I to describe these saints of the world by
a comp.uison* I would say, that some of them re-

Part III. AN APPEAL, a*. *r

semble persons, who artfully conceal their ulcers, un-
der the most agreeable appearance of cleanliness and
health. Many that admire their faces and looks,
little suspect what a putrid, virulent fluid runs out of
their secret sores. Others of them, whose hypo-
crisy is not of so gross a kind, are like persons infected
with a mortal disease, who though the mass of their
blood is tainted, and some noble part attacked, still
walk about, do business, and look as fresh-coloured
as if they were the picture of health. Ye sobs of iEscu-
lapius, who, without feeling their pulse, and carefully
weighing every symptom, pronounce them very well
upon their look alone, do ye not blunder in pnysic,
just as my objectors do in divinity ?

IV. But still they urge," that u It is wrong to father
our sinfulness upon a pretended natural depravity,
when it may be entirely owing to the force of ill ex-
ample, the influence of a bad education, or the strong
ferments of youthful blood."

All these, I reply, like rich soil and rank manure,
cause original corruption to shoot the higher, but do
not form its pernicious seeds. That these seeds lurk
within the heart, before they are forced up by the
heat of temptation, appears indubitable, if we consider,
(1.) That all children, on particular occasions, mani
fest some early inclination to those sins, which the
ieebleness of their bodily organs, and the want of pro-
per ferments in their blood do not permit them to
commit: (2.) That infants betray envy, ill-humour,
impatience, selfishness, anger and obstinacy, even be-
fore they can take particular notice of ill-examples,
and understand bad counsels : And (3.) That though
uncleannesS} fornication, and adultery, on account of
the shame and danger attending them, are committed
with so much secrecy, that the examples of them are
seldom, if ever, given in public ; they are neverthe-
less some of the crimes which are most universally or
eagerly committed*

92 AN APPEAL, &c. Part III.

Besides, if we were not more inclined to vice than
virtue, good examples would be as common, and have
as much force, as bad ones. Therefore the generality
of bad examples cannot arise but from the general
sinfulness of man ; and to account for this general
sinfulness by the generality of bad examples, is beg-
ging the question, and not proving the point.

Add to this, that as weeds, since the curse, grow
even in fields sown with the best wheat ; so vice since
the fall, grows in the midst of the best examples, and
the most excellent education : Witness the barbarous
crimes committed by pious Jacob's children, and pe-
nitent Adam's eldest son.

V. " But if Cain sinned, say our objectors, and all
mankind sin also, it is no more than Adam himself
once did by his own free choice, though he was crea-
ted as exempt from original depravity as an angel.
What need is there then to suppose, that he commu-
nicated to his posterity an inbred proneness to sin ?"

To this I reply : It is not one accident or single
event, but a continual repetition of the same event,
that proves a proneness. If a man, who is perfectly
in his senses, by some unforeseen accident ; falls into
a fit of madness, we may account for his misfortune
from that accident ; and no certain judgment can be
formed of the bodily habit of his family. But if all
his children, through an hundred generations, are
not only subject to the same mad fits, but also die in
consequence of them, in all sorts of climates, and un-
der all sorts of physicians ; common sense will not
allow us to doubt, that it is now a family disorder, in-
curable by human art. The man is Adam, the family
mankind, and the madness sin. Reader, you are de-
sired to make the application.

Part III. AN APPEAL, Wc. 9 3

XXIII. ARGUMENT.

" But all are not employed in sin and wickedness,
for many go through a constant round of innocent di-
versions ; and these, at least, must be innocent and
happy." Let us then consider the amusements of
mankind : or rather, without stopping to look at the
wise dance of the Israelites round the golden calf, and
the modest, sober, and humane diversions of the Hea-
thens, in the festivals of their lewd, drunken and
bloody gods ; let us only see, how far our own plea-
sures demonstrate the innocence and happiness of
mankind.

How excessively foolish are the plays of children !
How full of mischief and cruelty the sports of boys *
How vain, foppish and frothy the joys of young peo-
ple ! And how much below the dignity of upright,
pure creatures, the snares that persons of different
sexes perpetually lay for each other ! When they are
together, is not this their favourite amusement, till
they are deservedly caught, in the net, which they im-
prudently spread ? But see them asunder.

Here a circle of idle women, supping a decoction
•of Indian herbs, talk or laugh all together, like so
many chirping birds or chattering monkies, and scan-
dal excepted, every way to as good purpose.... And
there, a club of grave men blow, by the hour, clouds of
stinking smoke out of their mouth, or wash it down
their throat with repeated draughts of intoxicating
liquors. The strong fumes have already reached
their heads ; and while some stagger home, others
triumphantly keep the field of excess ; though one
is already stamped with the heaviness of the ox, ano-
ther worked up to the fierceness and roar of the lion,
and a third brought down to the filthiness of the vomit-
ing dog.

Leave them at their manly sport, to follow those
musical sounds, mixed with a noise of stamping : and

94 AN APPEAL, tfc. Part IIL

you will find others profusely perspiring, and violently
fatiguing themselves, in skipping up an down a room
for a whole night, and ridiculously turning their backs
and faces to each other an hundred different ways.
Would not a man of sense prefer running ten miles
upon an useful errand, to this useless manner of los-
ing his rest, heating his blood, exhausting his spirits,
unfitting himself for the duties of the following day,
and laying the foundation of a putrid fever or a con-
sumption, by breathing the midnight air corrupted by
clouds of dust, by the unwholesome fumes of candles,
and by the more pernicious steam, that issues from the
body of many persons, who use a strong exercise in a
confined place.

In the next room indeed they are mere quiet, but
are they more rationally employed ? Why do they so
earnestly rattle those ivory cubes ; and so anxiously
study those packs of loose spotted leaves ? Is happiness
graven upon the one, or stamped upon the other ? An-
swer, ye gamesters, who curse your stars, as ye go home
with an empty purse and a heart full of rage.

" We hope there is no harm in taking an inno-
cent game at cards, reply a ridiculous party of super-
annuated ladies ; gain is not our aim, we only play to
kill time." You are not then so well employed as the
foolish Heathen Emperor, who amused himself in kil-
ling troublesome flies and wearisome time together.
The delight of rational creatures, much more of Chris-
tians on the brink of the grave, is to redeem, improve,
and solidly enjoy time ; but yours alas ! consists in
the bare, irreparable loss of that invaluable treasure.
Oh, what account will you give of the souls you neg-
lect, and the talents you bury 1

And what shall we kill each day ! If trifling kill,
Sure vice must butcher : Oh ! what heaps of slain
Call out for vengeance on us ! time destroy'd
Is suicide, where more than blood is spilt.

Young.

Part III. AN APPEAL, Wc. 95

And are public diversions better evidences of our
innocence and happiness ? Let reason decide. In cities
some are lavish of the gold, which should be laid by
for payment of their debts, or the relief of the poor,
to buy an opportunity of acting under a mask an im-
pertinent or immodest part without a blush ; and
others are guilty of the same injustice or prodigality,
that they may be entitled to the honour of waiting up-
on a company of idle buffoons, and seeing them act
what would make a modest woman blush, or hearing
them speak what persons of true piety, or pure morals,
would gladly pay them never to utter.

Are country amusements more rational and inno-
cent ? What shall we say of those christian, or rather
heathenish festivals called Wakes, annually kept in ho-
nour of the saint to whom the parish -church was
formerly dedicated? are they not celebrated with the
idleness, vanity, and debauchery of the floralia ; with
the noise, riots, and frantic mirth of the bacchanals ;
rather than with the decent soiemnitv, pious cheerful-
ness, and strict temperance, which characterise the
religion of the holy Jesus ?

The assizes are held, the judge passes an awful
sentence of transportation or death upon guilty
wretches who stand pale and trembling before his tri-
bunal ; and twenty couple of gay gentlemen and la-
dies, as if they rejoiced in the infamy and destruction
of their fellow -mortals, and dance ail night, perhaps
in the very apartment, where the distracted victims of
justice a few hours before wrung their hands, and
rattled their irons.

The races are advertised, all the country is in
motion, neither business, rain, nor storm, can prevent
thousands from running for miles, and sometimes
through the worst of roads, to feast their eyes upon
the danger of their fellow-creatures, and divert them-
selves with the misery of the most useful animals.
Daring mortals hazard their necks upon swift cour-
sers, which are tortured by the severest lashes of the

$6 AN APPEAL, Is'c. Part III.

whip, and incessant pricks or tearing gashes of the
spur, that they may exert their utmost force, strain
every nerve, and make continued efforts even beyond
the powers of nature : Whence (to say nothing of fa-
tal accidents, which yet alas ; too frequently happen)
they sometimes pant away their wretched lives in a
bath of sweat and blood ; and all this, that they may
afford a barbarous pleasure to their idle, wanton, and
barbarous .beholders.

In one place the inhuman sport is afforded by an
unhappy bird, fixed at a distance, that the sons of cru-
elty may long exercise their merciless skill, in its lin-
gering and painful destruction : Or by two of them
trained up, and high-fed for the battle. The hour
fixed for the obstinate engagement is come : and as if
it was not enough that they should pick each other's
eyes out, with the strong bills, that nature has given
them ; human malice, or rather diabolical cruelty >
comes to the assistance of their native fierceness.
Silver spurs, or steel talons, sharper than those of the
eagle, are barbarously fastened to their feet ; thus
armed they are excited to leap at each other, and in an
hundred repeated onsets to tear their feathers and
flesh as if they were contending vultures ; and if at
last one blinded, covered with blood and wounds, and
unable to stand any longer the metalic claws of his
antagonist, enters into the agonies of death ; the nu-
merous ring of stamping, clapping, shouting, eagerly-
betting, or horribly cursing spectators, is as highly
delighted, as if the tortured, dying creature, was the
common enemy of mankind.

In another place, a multitude of spectators is de-
lightfully entertained by two brawny men, who unmer-
cifully knock one another down, as if they were oxen
appointed for the slaughter, and continue the savage
play, till one^Yvrith his flesh bruised and his bones shat-
tered, bleeding and gasping as in the pangs of death,
yields to his antagonist, and thus puts an end to the
shocking sport.

Part III. AN APPEAL, &e. 97

But it is perhaps a different spectacle, that recom-
mends itselfto the bloody taste of our baptized heathens.
Fierce dogs are excited by fiercer men, with fury to
fasten upon the nose, or tear out the eyes, of a poor
confined animal, which pierces the sky with his pain-
ful and lamentable bellowings, enough to force com-
passion from the heart of barbarians, not totally lost to
nil sense of humanity ; whilst in the mean time the sur-
rounding savage mob, rends the very heavens with the
most horrid imprecations, and repeated shouts of ap-
plauding joy ; sporting themselves with that very mi-
sery, which human nature (were it not deplorably cor-
rupted) would teach them to alleviate.*

These are thy favourite amusements, O England,
thou centre of the civilized world, where reformed
Christianity, deep-thinking wisdom, and polite learning,
with all its refinements, have fixed their abode ! But,
in the name of common sense, how can we clear them
from the imputation of absurdity, folly, and madness ?
And by what means can they be reconciled, I will not
say to the religion of the meek Jesus, but to the philo-
sophy of a Piato, or calm reason of any thinking man?
How perverted must be the taste, how irrational and

* « I ever thought,' says judge Hale, in his contemplations,
« that there is a certain degree of justice due from man to the crea-

* tures, as from man to man ; and that an excessive use of the crea-

* ture's labour is an injustice, for which he must account. I have
« therefore always esteemed it as a part of my duty, and it has al-
1 ways been my practice to bs merciful to my beasts ; and upon

* the same account I have declined any cruelty to any of thy crea-

* tures, and, as much as I might, prevented it in others as a ty-

* ranny I have abhorred those sports that consist in the torturing

* of thy creatures ; and if any n >xious creature must be destroyed,
« or creatures for food must be taken, it has been my practice to
' do it in the manner that may be with the least torture or cru-

* elty to the creature ; ever remembering, that though God has
1 given us a dominion over his creatures, yet it is under a law of
•justice, prudence, and moderation: otherwise we should be-

* come tyrants and not lords over God's creatures : and therefore
« those things of this nature, which others have practised as re-
« creations, 1 have avoided as sins.'

93 AN APPEAL, Wc. Part III:

cruel the diversions of barbarians, in other pans of the
globe ! And how applicable to all, the wise man's ob-
servation ! " Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a
child, and madness in the breasts of the sons of men."

XXIV. ARGUMENT.

The total corruption of our nature appears, not only
in the inclination of mankind to pursue irrational, and
cruel amusements ; but in their general propensity to
commit the most unprofitable, ridiculous, inhuman,
impious, and diabolical sins.

1st. The most unprofitable : For instance, that of
sporting in prophane oaths and curses with the tre-
mendous name of the Supreme Being. Because of
swearing the land moarneth, said a prophet thousands
pf years ago ; and what land even in Christendom, yea
What parish in this reformed island mourns not, or ought
not to mourn/for the same provoking crime? a crime,
which is the hellish offspring of practical atheism, and
heathenish insolence, a crime, that brings neither pro-
fit, honour, nor pleasure to the prophane wretch who
commits it, a crime for which he may be put to open
shame, forced to appear before a magistrate, and sent
%for ten days to the house of correction, unless he pays
an ignominious fine ; and what is more awful still, a
crime, which, if persisted in, will one day cause him to
gnaw his impious tongue in the severest torments.
Surely man, who drinks this insipid, and yet destructive
iniquity like water, must have his moral taste strangely
vitiated, not to say, diabolically perverted.

2 dry. The most ridiculous sins. In what country,
town or village do not women betray their silly vanity ?
Is it not the same foolish disposition of heart, which
makes them bore their ears in Europe, and slit their
noses in America, that they may unnaturally graft in
their fiesh, pieces of glass, shining pebbles, glittering
gold, or trinkets of meaner metal ? And when female

Part III. AN APPEAL, Wc. 09

Hottentots fancy they add to the importance of their
filthy person, by some yards of the bloody intestines of
a beast twisted round their arms or necks, do they not
evidence the very spirit of the ladies in our hemisphere,
who two often measure their dignity by the yards of
coloured silk bands, with which they crown them-
selves, and turn the grave matron into a pitiful' may-
queen ?

3dly. The most inhuman sins. " An hundred
thousand mad animals, whose heads are covered with
hats," say Voltaire, " advanced to kill, or to be killed,
by the like number of their fellow-mortals covered
with turbans. By this strange procedure they want,
at best, to decide whether a tract of land, to which none
of them all lays any claim, shall belong to a certain
man whom they call Sultan, or to another whom they
name Caesar, neither of whom ever saw, or will see
the spot so furiously contended for: And very few
of those creatvires, who thus mutually butcher one
another, ever beheld the animal for whom they cut
each other's throats. From time immemorial this has
been the way of mankind almost over all the earth.
What an excess of madness is this 1 And how deser-
vedly might a superior Being crush to atoms this
earthly ball, the bloody nest of such ridiculous mur-
derers 1"

The same author makes elsewhere the following
reflections, on the kme melancholy subject!. " Famine,
pestilence, and war, are the three most famous ingre-
dients of this lower world. The two first come from
God, but the last, in which all three concur, comes
from the imagination of princes or ministers. A king
fancies, that he has a right to a distant province. He
raises a multitude of men, who have nothing to do,
and nothing to lose ; gives them a red coat and a laced
hat, and makes them wheel to the right, wheel to the
left, and march to glory. Five or six of these bel-
ligerent powers sometimes engage together, three
against three, or two against four : but whatever part

103 AN APPEAL, &c. Part III.

they take, they all agree in one point, which is, to do
their neighbour ail possible, mischief. The most asto-
nishing thing, belonging to their infernal undertaking,
is, that every ring-leader of those murderers, gets his
colours consecrated, and solemnly blessed in the name
of God, before he marches up to the destruction of his
fellow-creatures. If a chief warrior has had the good
fortune of getting only two or three thousand men
slaughtered, he does not think it worth his while to
thank God for it : But if ten thousand have been de-
stroyed by fire and sword, and if (to complete his good
fortune) some capital city has been totally overthrown ;
a day of public thanksgiving, is appointed on the joyful
occasion. Is not that a fine art which carries such
desolation through the earth : and one year with an-
other, destroys forty thousand men, out of an hundred
thousand !"

4thly. The most impious sins ; for instance that
of idolatry ; " Before the coming of Christ," says a
late divine, " all the polite and barbarous nations
among the Heathens, plunged into it with equal blind-
ness. And the Jews were so strongly wedded to it,
that God's miraculous interposition, both by dreadful
judgments and astonishing mercies, could not for eight
hundred years, restrain them from committing it in
the grossest manner."

Nor need we look at either Heathens or Jews, to
see the proneness of mankind to that detestable crime :
Christians alone can prove the charge. To this day, the
greatest part of them pray to dead men and dead wo-
men ; bow to images of stone, and crosses of wood ; and
make, adore, and swallow down, the \v afer-god : And
those, who pity them for this ridiculous idolatry, till
converting grace interposes, daily set up their idols in
their hearts, and without going to the plain of Dura,
sacrificee 11 to the king's golden image.

And 5thly. The most diabolical sin : Persecution,
that favourite offspring of Satan transformed into an
smgel of light. Persecution, that bloody, hypocritical

Part III. AN APPEAL, tfr. KM

monster, which carries a bible, a liturgy, and a bundle
of canons in one hand ; with fire, faggots, and all the
weapons invented by cruelty in the other ; and with
sanctified looks, distresses, racks, or murders men, ei-
ther because they love God, or because they cannot all
think alike.

Time would fail to tell of those, who, on religious ac-
counts, have been stoned and sawn asunder by the Jews,
cast to the lions and burnt by the Heathens, strangled
and impaled by the Mahometans, and butchered all
manner of ways by the Christians.

Yes, we must confess it, Christian Rome hath glut-
ted herself with the blood of martyrs, which Heathen-
ish Rome had but comparatively tasted : and when
Protestants fled from her bloody pale, they brought
along with them too much of her bloody spirit : Prove
the sad assertion, poor Servetus : When Romish in-
quisition had forced thee to fly to Geneva, what recep*
tion didst thou meet with in that reformed city ? Alas !
the Papists had burned thee in effigy, the Protestants
burned thee in reality, and Molock triumphed to see
the two opposite parties, agree in offering him the hu-
man sacrifice.

So universally restless is the spirit of persecution,
which, inspires the unrenewed part of mankind, that
when people of the same religion have no outward op-
poser to tear, they bark at, bite, and devour one ano-
ther. Is it not the same bitter zeal, that made the
Pharisees and Sadduces among the Jews, and now
makes the sects of Ali and Omar among the Maho-
metans, those of the Jansenists and Molinists among
the Papists, and those of the Calvinists and Arminians
among the Protestants, oppose each other with such
accrimony and virulence ?

But let us look around us at home : When perse-
cuting Popery had almost expired in the fires, in
which it burned our first church-men, how soon did
those who survived them commence persecutors of
the Presbyterians ? When these, forced to fly to New-
i 2

102 AN APPEAL, &c. Part HI.

England for rest, got there the staff of power in their
hand, did they not in their turn fall upon, and even
hang the Quakers ? And now that an act of toleration
binds the monster, and the lash of pens consecrated to
the defence of our civil and religious liberties, makes
him either afraid or ashamed of roaring aloud for his
prey ; does he not shew, by his supercilious looks ma-
licious sneers, and settled contempt of vital piety, what
he would do should an opportunity offer ? And does
he not still, under artful pretences, go to the utmost
length of his chain, to wound the reputation of those,
whom he cannot devour, and inflict at least * acade-
mic death upon those whose person is happily secured
from his rage ?

O ye unconverted among mankind, if all these
abominations every where break out upon you ; what
cages of unclean birds, what nests swarming with cruet
vipers, are your deceitful and desperately wicked
hearts !

XXV. ARGUMENT.

How dreadfully fallen is man, if he has not only a
propensity to commit the above-mentioned sins, but
to transgress the divine commands with a variety of
shocking aggravations ! Yes, mankind are prone to
sin :

I. Immediately, by a kind of evil instinct : as chil-
dren, who peevishly strike the very breast they suck ;
and betray the rage of their little hearts, by sobbing
and swelling, sometimes till, by forcing their bowels out
of their place, they bring a rupture, upon themselves ;
and frequently till they are black in the face, and al-
most suffocated. ...II. Deliberately, as those, who hav-
ing life and death clearly set before them, wilfully, ob-
stinately chuse the way that leads to certain destruc-

* ?ce Pietas Oxoniensi*.

Part III. AN APPEAL, &d 103

tion....III. Repeatedly, witness liars, who, because
their crime costs them but a breath, frequently commit
it at every breath.... IV. Continually, as rakes, who would
make their whole life one uninterrupted scene of de-
bauchery, if their exhausted strength, or purse,
did not force them to intermit their lewd practices ;
though not without a promise to renew them again, at
the first convenient opportunity.... V. Treacherously, as
those Christians, who forget divine mercies, and their
own repeated resolutions, break through the solemn
vows and promises made in their sacraments, and sin-
ning with an high hand against their profession perfi-
diously fly in the face of their conscience, the church,
and their Saviour.... VI. Daringly, as those who steal
under the gallows, openly insult theirparents or their
king, laugh at all laws human and divine, and put to
defiance all that are invested with power to see them
executed.. ..VII. Triumphantly, as the vast number of
those, who glory in their shame, sound aloud the trum-
pet of their own wickedness, and boast of their horrid,
repeated debaucheries, as admirable, and praise-wor-
thy deeds.... VIII. Progressively, till they have filled up
the measure of their iniquities, as individuals; witness
Judas, who from covetousness, proceeded to hypoc-
risy, theft, treason, despair and self-murder : Or, as a
nation ; witness the Jews, who after despising and kil-
ling their prophets, rejected the Son of God; affirmed
he was mad; stigmatized him with the name of De-
ceiver ; said he was Beelzebub himself ; offered him
all manner of indiginities ; bought his blood ; prayed it
might be on them, and their children : rested not, till
they had put the Prince of Life to the most ignomi-
nious death ; and horrible to say ! made sport with the
groans, which rent the rocks around them, and threw
the earth into convulsions under their feet. ...IX. Unna-
turally : (1.) By astonishing barbarities ; as the wo-
men, who murder their own children ; the Greeks and
Romans, who exposed them to be the living prey of
wild beasts : the savages, who knock their aged parents,

104, AN APPEAL, Wc. Part III.

on the head ; the Cannibals, who roast and eat their pri-
soners of war; and some revengeful people, who, to taste
all the sweetness of their devilish passion, have mur-
dered their enemy, and eaten up his liver and heart. (2.)
By the most diabolical superstitions : As the Israelites,
who, when they had learned the works of the Heathens,
sacrificed their sons and their daughters to devils ; and
by the horrible practices of witchcraft, endeavoured to
raise, and deal with infernal spirits: And (3.) by the
most preposterous gratification of sense : Witness the
incests *and rapes committed in this land : the infa-
mous fires, which drew fire and brimstone down from
heaven upon accursed cities ; and the horrid lusts of
the Canaanites, though alas ! not confined to Canaan ;
which gave birth to the laws recorded, Lev. xviii. 7,
33. and xx. 16.f Laws that are at once the disgrace
of mankind, and the proof of my assertion.... X. What
is most astonishing of all, by Apostacy : As those, who
having begun in the spirit, and tasted the bitterness of
repentance, the good word of God, and the powers of
the world to come, make shipwreck of the faith, deny
the Lord that bought them, account the blood of the
covenant wherewith they were sanctified an unholy
thing : and so scandalously end in the flesh, that they are
justly compared to trees withered, plucked by the roots,
twice dead, and to raging waves of the sea foaming out
their own shame, to whom is reserved the blackness
of darkness for ever.

* The reason, which engaged the publisher of these sheets, to
preach to some of the colliers in his neighbourhood, was the hor-
rid length they went in immorality. One of them, whose father
was hanged, upon returning himself from transportation, in cool
blood attempted to ravish his own daughter in the presence of his
own wife, and was just prevented from compleating his crime, by
the utmost exertion of the united strength of the mother and the
child. When brutish ignorance, and heathenish wickedness break
eutinto such unnatural enormities, who would not break through
the hedge of canonical regularity ?

f In the la6t century, an Irish Bishop was clearly convicted of
the crime forbidden ip tho&e law*, and suffered death for k.

Part III. AN APPEAL, 0*. IO5

Good God ! what line can fathom an abyss of cor-
ruption, the overflowings of which are more or less at-
tended with these multiplied and shocking aggrava-
tions r

XXVI. ARGUMENT.

If the force of a torrent may be known by the height
and number of the banks, which it overflows ; the
strength of this corruption will be rightly estimated
from the high, and numerous dikes raised to stem it,
which it nevertheless continually breaks through.

Ignorance and debauchery, injustice and impiety,
in all their shapes, still overspread the whole earth :
notwithstanding innumerable means used in all ages to
suppress and prevent them.

The almost total extirpation of mankind by the
deluge, the fiery showers that consumed Sodom, the
ten Egyptian plagues, the entire excision of whole na-
tions who were once famous for their wickedness, the
captivities of the Jews, the destruction of thousands of
cities and kingdoms, and millions of more private judg-
ments, never fully stopped immorality in any one
country.

The striking miracles wrought by prophets, the
alarming sermons preached by divines, the infinite
number of good books published in almost all lan-
guages, and the founding of myriads of churches, reli-
gious houses, schools, colleges and universities, have
not yet caused impiety to hide its brazen face any
where. The' making of all sorts of excellent laws, the
appointing of magistrates and judges to put them in
force, the forming of associations for the reformation
of manners, the filling of thousands of prisons, and
erecting of millions of racks and gallows, have not yet
suppressed one vice.

And what is most amazing of all, the life, mira-
cles, sufferings, death, and heavenly doctrine of the

106 AN APPEAL, Ufc. Part III.

Son of God ; the labours, writings, and martyrdom of
his disciples ; the example, and intreaties of millions
that have lived and died in the faith ; the inexpressible
horrors and frightful warnings of thousands of wicked
men, who have testified in their last moments, that
they had worked out their damnation, and were just
going to their own place ; the blood of myriads of
martyrs, the strivings of the Holy Spirit, the dreadful
curses of the law, and the glorious promises of the gos-
pel....All these means together, have not extirpated
immorality and prophaneness, out of one single town
or village in all the world ; no, nor out of one single fa-
mily for any length of time. And this will probably
continue to be the desperate case of mankind, till the
Lord lays to his powerful hand ; seconds these means
by the continued strokes of the sword of his Spirit ;
pleads by fire and sword with all flesh ; and according
to his promise, causes righteousness to cover the
earth, as the waters cover the sea.

Is not this a demonstration founded on matter of
feet, that human corruption is not only deep as the
ocean ; but impetuous as an overflowing river, which
breaks down all its banks, and Jeaves marks of devas-
tation in every place ? This will still appear in a clear-
er light, if we consider the strong opposition, which our
natural depravity makes to divine grace in the uncon-
verted.

XXVIL ARGUMENT.

When the Lord, by the rod of affliction, the sword
of the spirit, and the power of his grace, attacks the
hard heart of a sinner ; how obstinately does he resist
the sharp, though gracious operation ! To make an
honourable and vigorous defence, he puts on the shin-
ing robes of his formality ; he stands firm in the boast-
ed armour of his moral powers ; he daubs with untem-
pered mortar the ruinous wall of hi* conduct ; with

Part in. AN APPEAL, &c. 107

self-righteous resolutions, and pharisaic professions of
virtue, he builds as he thinks, an impregnable tower ;
musters and draws up in battle array his poor works,
artfully putting in the front those that make the finest
appearance, and carefully concealing the vices, which
he can neither disguise, nor dress up in the regimen-
tals of virtue.

In the mean time he prepares the carnal weapons
of his warfare, and raises the battery of a multitude of
objections to silence the truth that begins to gall him.
He affirms, " the preachers of it are deceivers and mad
men ;" till he sees the Jews and Heathens fixed even
upon Christ and St. Paul the very same approbrious
names : He calls it a " new doctrine f* till he is obliged
to acknowledge that it is as old as the Reformers, the
Apostles, and the Prophets : He says " it is fancy, de-
lusion, enthusiasm ;" till the blessed effects of it, on
true believers, constrain him to drop the trite and
slanderous assertion : He declares, that " it drives peo-
ple out of their senses, or makes them melancholy,"
till he is compelled to confess, that the fear of the
Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and that none are so
happy and joyful, as those who truly love, and zeal-
ously serve God : He urges, that " it destroys good
works;" till a sight of the readiness of believers, and
of his own backwardness, to perform them, makes him
ashamed of the groundless accusation : He will tell you
twenty times over, " there is no need of so much ado ;"
till he discovers the folly of being careless on the
brink of eternal ruin, and observes that the nearness of
temporal danger puts him upon the utmost exertion
of all his powers. Perhaps, to get himself a name
among his prophane companions, he lampoons the
scriptures, or casts out firebrands and arrows against
the despised disciples of Jesus, "they are all poor illite-
rate," says he, " fools or knaves, cheats and hypo-
crites," Sec. Sec. till the word of God stops his mouth,
and he sees himself the greatest hypocrite, with whom
lie is acquainted.

108 AN APPEAL, &e. Part III.

When by such heavy charges, he has long kept off
the truth from his heart, and the servants of God from
his company, this kind of ammunition begins to fail ;
and he barricades himself with the fear of being undone
in his circumstances, till experience convinces him,
that no good thing shall God with-hold from them that
live a godly life, and that all things shall be added to
them, who seek first the kingdom of God. He then
hides himself in the crowd of the ungodly, and says,
" if he perishes, many will share the same fate ;" till
he sees the glaring absurdity of going to hell for the
^ake of company. He shelters at last under the pro-
tection of the rich, the great, the learned despisers of
Christ and the cross ; till the mines of their wickedness
springing on all sides around him, makes him fly to
the sanctuary of the Lord ; and there he sees the ways
and understands the end of these men.

When all his batteries are silenced, and a breach is
made in his conscience, he looks out for some secret
way to leave Sodom, without being taken notice of,
and derided by those who fight under Satan's banner;
and the fear of being taken for one of them that fly from
the wrath to come, and openly take the part of an holy
God against a sinful world, pierces him through with
many sorrows.

Are the outworks taken, has he been forced to part
with his gross immoralities, he has generally recourse
to a variety of stratagems : Sometimes he publicly
dismisses Satan's garrison, fleshly lusts which war
against the godly, and keep under the ungodly soul ;
but it is only to let them in again secretly, either one
by one, or with forces seven times greater, so thathis
last state is worse than the first. At other times he
hoists up the white flag of truth, apparently yields to
conviction, favours the ministers of the gospel, admits
the language of Canaan, and warmly contends for
evangelic a doctrines : But alas : the place has not
surrendered, his heart is not given up to God : spi-
ritual wickedness, under fair shows of zeal, still keeps

Part III. AN APPEAL, &c. 109

possession for the God of this world ; and the shrewd
hypocrite artfully imitates the behaviour of a true
Israelite, just as Satan transforms himself to an angel
of light.

Is he at last deeply convinced, that the only mean
of escaping destruction, and capitulating to advantage,
is to deliver up the traitor Sin ? Yet what a long par-
ley does he hold about it I What a multitude of plausi-
ble reasons does he advance to put it off from day to
day ! " He is yet young. ...The Lord is merciful.. ..All
" have their foibles. ...We are here in an imperfect
" state. ...It is a little sin.. ..It may be consistant with
" loyalty to God.. ..It hurts nobody but himself....
" Many pious men were once guilty of it.... By and by
" he will repent as they did, See. &c." When louder
summons and increasing fears, compel him to renounce
the lusts of the flesh, how strongly does he plead for
those of the mind ! And after he has given up his bo-
som-sin with his lips, how treacherously does he hide it
in the inmost recesses of his heart.

Never did a besieged town dispute the ground with
such obstinacy, and hold out by such a variety of
stratagems, as corrupt man stands it out against the
repeated attacks of truth and grace. If he yields at
all, it is seldom before he is brought to the greatest
extremity. He feeds on the dust of the earth ; he tries
to fill his soul with the husks of vanity ; and fares
hard on sounds, names, forms, opinions, withered ex-
perience, dry notions of faith, and empty professions
of hope, and fawning shows of love, till the mighty-
famine arises, and the intolerable want of substantial
bread, forces him to surrender at discretion, and with-
out reserve.

Some stand it out thus, against the God of their sal-
vation, ten or twenty years ; and others never yield,
till the terrors of death storm their affrighted souls,
their last sickness batters down their tortured bodies,
and the poison of the arrows of the Almighty drinks up

K

1 10 AN APPEAL, &c Paet III.

their wasted spirits. What a strong proof is this,
of the inveteracy, and the obstinacy of our corrupt
tion I

XXVIII. ARGUMENT.

But a still stronger may be drawn, from the amazing-
struggles of God's children with their depravity :
even after they have, through grace, powerfully sub-
dued, and gloriously triumphed over it. Their Re-
deemer himself is the Captain of their salvation :
They are imbarked with him and bound for heaven :
They look at the compass of God's word : They hold
the rudder of sincerity : They croud all the sails of
their good resolutions, and pious affections, to catch
the gales of divine assistance : They exhort one ano-
ther daily, to ply the oars of faith and prayer with
watchful iudustry : tears of deep repentance and fer-
vent desire, often bedew their faces in the pious toil :
they would rather die than draw back to perdition :
but alas : the stream of corruption is so impetuous,
that it often prevents their making any sensible pro-
gress in their spiritual voyage : and if in an unguarded
hour, they drop the oar, and faint in the work of faith,
the patience of hope, or the labour of love, they are
presently carried down into the dead sea of religious for-
mality, or the whirlpools of scandalous wickedness.
Witness the lukewarmness of the Laodiceans, the adul-
tery of David, the perjury of Peter, the final apostacy of
Judas, and the shameful flight of all the disciples.

XXIX. ARGUMENT.

When evidences of the most opposite interest,
agree in their deposition of a matter of fact, its
triiUi is greatly corroborated, To the last argument,

Part III. AN APPEAL, tfc. 1 1 1

taken from some sad experiences of God's people, I
shall therefore add one drawn from the religious rites
of paganism, the confessions of ancient heathens, and
the testimony of modern deists.

When the heathens made their temples stream
with the blood of slaughtered hecatombs, did they not
often explicitly deprecate the wrath of heaven and im-
pending destruction ? and was it not a sense of their
guilt and danger ; and an hope, that the punishment
they deserved, might be transferred to their bleeding
victims, which gave birth to their numerous, expiatory
and propitiatory sacrifices ? If this must be granted, it
is plain, those sacrifices were so many proofs, that the
considerate Heathens were no utter strangers to their
corruption and danger.

But let them speak their own sentiments. Not to
mention their allegorical fables of Prometheus, who
brought a curse upon earth by stealing fire out of hea-
ven ; and of Pandora, whose fatal curiosity let all sorts
of woes and deseases loose upon mankind : Does not
Ovid in his Metamorphoses give a striking account of
the fall, and its dreadful consequences ? Read his
description of the golden age, and you See Adam in
Paradise ; proceed to the iron age, and you behold
the horrid picture of our consummate wickedness.

If the ancients had no idea of that native propensity to
evil which we call original depravity : what did Plato
mean by our *Natural wickedness ? And Pythagoras by
fThe fatal companion, the noxious strife that lurks with-
in us, and was born along with us ? Didnot Solon take for
his motto the well known saying, which, though so much
neglected now, was formerly written in golden capitals

* Kahia en pbusei. Hence that excellent definition of tru* religion
Tberapeia patches The cure of a diseased soul.

<
f Euroe^ar tunopsados eris bhptouna lelet'.^u
Sumpbtu. Aur. Carta.

m AN APPEAL, &c. Part III.

over the door of Apollo's temple at Delphos,* [Know thy-
self ? Are we not informed by Heathen Historians that
Socrates, the Prince of the Greek Sages, acknowledg-
ed he was naturally prone to the grossest vices ? Does
not Seneca,, the best of the Roman philosophers, ob-
serve, fWe are born in such a condition, that we are
not subject to fewer disorders of the mind than of the
body ? Yea that JA11 vices are in all men, though they
<io not break out in every one : and that, §To confess
them is the beginning of our cure ? and had not Cicero
lamented before Seneca, that men are brought into
life by nature as a step-mother, with a naked, frail, and
infirm body ; and a soul prone to divers lusts I

Even some of the sprightliest poets bear their
testimony to the mournful truth I contend for. Pro-
pertius could say, **every body has a vice, to which
he is inclined by nature. Horace declared, that ttNo
man is born free from vices, and that he is the best man
who is oppressed with the least.. ..That J J Mankind rush
into wickedness, and always desire what is forbidden....
That §§youth hath the softness of wax to receive vicious
impressions and the hardness of a rock to resist virtuous
admonitions. ...In a word : that we are mad enough to
attack heaven itself, and that our repeated crimes do
suffer God of heaven to lay by his wrathful thunder-
bolts.^

* Onotbi scautorr.

f Hac conditione nati sumus . Animalia obnoxia non paucio*
ribus animi quam corporis morbisi

\ Omnia in omnibus vitia sunt, sed non omnia in singulis
extant.

§ Vitia sua confiteri sanitatis principium est- '
** Unicuique dedit vitium natura creato.
tt Nam vitiis nemo sine nascitur, optimus ille est,
Qui minimis urgetur.
ft Gens humanaruit per vetitum nefas,

Nitimurin vetitum semper cupimus que negata-
, §§ Cereus in vitium flecti, monitoribus asper.
^ Caelum ipsum petimus stultitia ; neque
Per nostrum patimur scclus
Iracunda Jovem ponere Culmina.

Part III. AN APPEAL, &c. 1 13

And Juvenal, as if he had understood what St.
Paul says of the carnal mind, affirms that * Naturr
unchangeably fixt, tends, yea runs back to wickedness?
as bodies to their centre.

Thus the very depositions of the Heathens, in
their lucid intervals, as well as their sacrifices, prove
the depravity and danger of mankind. And so does
likewise the testimony of some of our modern, deisti-
cal philosophers.

The ingenious author of a book, called Philosophi-
cal Enquiries concerning the Americans, informs us,
it is a custom among some Indians that as soon as the
wife is delivered of a child, the husband must take to
his bed, where he is waited on by the poor woman,
who should have been brought there ; and that to this
day, the same ridiculous custom prevails in some parts
of France. " From this and other instances," says
our Enquirer, " we may collect, that however men may
differ in other points, there is a most striking confor-
mity among them in absurdity"

The same philosopher, who is by no means tainted,
with what some persons are pleased to call enthusi-
asm, confirms the doctrine of our natural depravity by
the following anecdote, and the ironical observation
with which it is closed. The Eskimaux (the wildest
and most sottish people in all America) call them-
selves men, and all other nations barbarians. " Hu-
man vanity, we see, thrives equally well in all climates ;
in Labrador as in Asia. Beneficent nature has dealt
out as much of this comfortable quality to a Green-
lander, as to the most consummate French pettit
maitre."

The following testimony is so much the more strik-
ing, as it comes from one of the greatest poets, philo-
sophers, and deists, of this present free-thinking age.

* Ad mores natura recurrit
Damnatos, fixa et mutari nescia.
K 3

1 14 AN APPEAL, bfr. Part III.

1 Who can without horror, consider the whole earth as
4 the Empire of destruction ! It abounds in wonders,
4 it abounds also in victims ; it is a vast field of carnage
4 and contagion. Every species is, without pity, pur-

* sued and torn to pieces through the earth, and air,

* and water. In man there is more wretchedness,

* than in all other animals put together : he smarts
4 continually under two scourges, which other animals

* never feel ; anxiety, and a listlessness in appetence,
4 which make him weary of himself. He loves life,
4 and yet he knows that he must die. If he enjoys
4 some transient good, for which he is thankful to hea-

* ven, he suffers various evils, and is at last devoured

* by worms. This knowledge is his fatal prerogative :
4 Other animals have it not. He feels it every mo-
1 ment, rankling and corroding in his breast. Yet he
4 spends the transient moment of his existence, in dif-
1 fusing the misery that he suffers ; in cutting the
4 throats of his fellow-creatures for pay ; in cheating
4 and being cheated, in robbing and being robbed, in
4 serving that he may command, and in repenting of all

* that he does. The bulk of mankind are nothing
i more than a crowd of wretches, equally criminal and
4 unfortunate, and the globe contains- rather carcasses
4 than men. I tremble, upon a review of this dreadful
4 picture, to find that it implies a complaint against
4 providence, and I wish that I had never been born.'
Voliairt^a Gos/iel of the Day.*

* Wild error is often the guide, and glaring contradiction the
badge, both of those, who reject revelation, like Voltaire ; and of
those, who indirectly set aside one half of it, like the pharisees
and antinomians around us See a striking proof of it. This very
author, in another book, (O ! sec what antichrLtian morality comes
to !) represents the horrible sin of Sodom as ah excusable mistake
of nature, and assures us, that "At the worst of times, there is
at most upon earth, one man in a thousand that can be called
v< icked." Now for the proof ! " Hardly dowe see one of those t nor-
mous crimes, that shock human nature, committed in ten years ;t
F ome, Pari?, or London , those cities where the thirst of gaint which
i> the pvau of all crimes, is carried to the highest piuh....Ii men

Part III. AN APPEAL, Cflr. 115

XXX. ARGUMENT.

And yet, O strange infatuation ! vain man will be
wise, and wicked man pretends to be righteous ! Far
from repenting in the dust ; he pleads his innocence,
and claims the rewards of imaginary merit ! Incre-
dible as the assertion is, a thousand witnesses are ready
to confirm it.

Come forth, ye natural sons of virtue, who with
scornful boasts attack the doctrine of man's depravity.
To drown the whispers of reason and experience,
sound each your own trumpet. ...Thank God, you " are
not as other men".... In form us, you " have a good
heart,''"- and " a clear conscience :" Assure us, you
" do your duty, your endeavours, your best endea-
vours" to please the author of your lives.. ..Vow, you
" never were guilty of any crime, never did any harm :"
....And tell us, you hope to mount to heaven, on the

•were essentially wicked, we should find every morning husbands
murderedby their wives. &c.aswedo hens killed by foxes." Accord-
ing to this apostle of the deistical world, it seems., that the most in-
tense thirst of gold is no degree of wickedness; that a woman, to
be very good, needs only not to cut her husband's throat while he
is asleep; and that it even little matters whether she omits the
dire murder out of regard to his life, or her own. What moral
philosophy is here ! Why, if the sin of Sodom is a peccadillo, a
trolicksome mistake ; and nothing is wickedness but a treacherous
cutting of an husband's or a parent's throat ; I extend my charity
four times beyond thee, O Voltaire, and do maintain, that there is
net one wicked man in five thousand.

1 insert this note, to obviate the charges of severe critics, who
accuse me of dealing in " gross misrepresentations, false quotations,
and forgeries," because 1 quote some authors, when they speak as
the oracles of God; and do not swell my book with their inconsis-
tencies, when they contradict the scriptures, reason, and the truths,
which they themselves have advanced in some happy moments :
and because 1 cannot force my reason to maintain with them, both
sides of a glaring coistradiction.

O ye deistical moralists, let me meet with more candour, jus-
tice, and mercy from you, than I have done from the warm oppo-
sers of the second gospel-axiom. It is enough that you discard
scriptnre, do not like them, make it a part of your orthodoxy, to-
murdcr reason, and kick common sense out of doors.

1 16 AN APPEAL, &i. Part III.

strong pinions of your " good works and pious resolu-
tions."

When you have thus acted the Pharisee's part be-
fore your fellow-creatures ; go to your Creator, and as-
sume the character of the publican. Confess with
your lips, your are miserable sinners, who have done
what ye ought not to have done, and left undone what
you ought to have done : Protest, there is no health in
you : Complain, that the remembrance of your sins is
grievous unto you, and the burthen of them intolerable:
But remember, O ye self-righteous formalists, that by
this glaring inconsistency, you give the strongest proof
of your unrighteousness. You are nevertheless modest,
when compared with your brethren, of the Romish
church.

These, far from thinking themselves unprofitable
servants, fancy they are literally righteous over much.
Becoming merit-mongers, they make a stock of their
works of supererogation, set up shop with the righte-
ousness they can spare to others, and expose to sale in-
digencies, and pardons, out of their pretended trea-
surv. Nor are there wanting sons of Simon, who with
ready-money purchase, as they think, not livings in
the church below ; but which is far preferable, seats in
the church above, and good places at the heavenly
court.

Was ever a robe of righteousness (I had almost
said a fool's coat) so coarsely woven by_the slaves of
imposture and avarice! and so dearly bought by the
sons of superstition and credulity !

O ye spiritual Ethiopians, who paint yourselves all
over with the corroding white of hypocrisy, and after
all, are artful enough to lay on red paint, and imitate
the blush of humble modesty. ...Ye that borrow virtue's
robes to procure admiration, and put on religion's cloak
to hide your shameful deformity.... Ye that deal in ex-
ternal righteousness, to carry on with better success
the most sordid of all trades, that of sin ; of the worst
of sins, pride ; of the worst of pride, which is spiri-

Part III. AN APPEAL, Wc. lit

-tual....Ye numerous followers of those, whom the pro-
phet of christians called crafty serpents, and soft brooJ
of vipers.... Ye, to whom he declared that publicans anc
harlots shall enter into the kingdom of heaven before
you ; if I call you in last, to prove the desperate wick-
edness of the human heart, it is not because I esteem
you the weakest advocates of the truth I contend for,
but because you really are the strongest of my wit-
nesses.

And now, candid reader, forget not plain matter of
fact : recollect the evidence given by reason ; pass sen-
tence upon these last arguments which I have offered
to thy consideration ; and say, whether man's disposi-
tion and conduct towards his Creator, his fellow-crea-
tures, and himself, do not abundantly prove, that he is
by nature in a fallen and lost estate.

FOURTH PART.

THE preceeding arguments recommend
themselves to the common sense of thinking heathens,
and the conscience of reasonable deists ; as being all
taken from those two amazing volumes, which are
open to and legible by all ; the world and man. The
following are taken from a third volume, the bible,
despised by the wits of the age, merely because they
study and understand it, even less than the other two.
" The bible ! says one of them with a smile, save your-
self the trouble of producing arguments drawn from
that old legend, unless you first demonstrate its authen-
ticity by the noble faculty, to which you appeal in these
pages/' For the sake of such objectors, I here premise,
by way of digression, a few rational arguments to
evince, as far as my contracted plan will allow, the di-
vine authority of the scriptures.

1. The sacred pen-men, the prophets and Apostles,
were holy, excellent men, and would not ; artless il-
literate men, and therefore could not, lay the horrible
scheme of deluding mankind. The hope of gain did
not influence them, for they were self-denying men,
that left all to follow a master, who had not where to lay
his head ; and whose grand initiating maxim was, Ex-
cept a man forsake all that he hath he cannot be my
disciple. They were so disinterested, that they se-
cured nothing on earth but hunger and nakedness,

120 AN APPEAL, Wc. Part IV.

stocks and prisons, racks and tortures ; which indeed
was all that they could, or did expect in consequence
of Christ's express declarations. Neither was a
desire of honour the motive of their actions ; for their
Lord himself was treated with the utmost contempt,
and had more than once assured them, that they should
certainly share the same, fate : Besides, they were
humble men, not above working as mechanics for a
coarse maintenance, and so little desirous of human re-
gard, that they exposed to the world the meanness of
their birth and occupations, their great ignorance and
scandalous falls.

Add to this, that they were so many, and lived at
such distance of time and place from each other, that
had they been impostors, it would have been impracti-
cable for them to contrive, and carry on a forgery
without being detected. And as they neither would,
nor could deceive the world ; so they neither could
nor would be deceived themselves : For they were
days, months, and years, eye and ear-witnesses of the
things which they relate : and when they had not the
fullest evidence of important facts, they insisted upon
new proofs, and even upon sensible demonstrations ; as
for instance Thomas, in the matter of our Lord's re-
surrection, John. xx. 25. And to leave us no room to
question their sincerity, most of them joyfully sealed
the truth of their doctrines with their own blood. Did
so many and such marks of veracity, ever meet in any
other authors ?

2. But even while they lived, they confirmed their
testimony by a variety of miracles, wrought in clivers
places, and for a number of years : sometimes before
thousands of their enemies, as the miracles of Christ
and his disciples ; sometimes before hundreds of thou-
sands, as those of Moses. These miracles were so
well known and attested, that when both Christ and
Moses appealed to their authenticity, before their bit-
terest opposers, mentioning the persons upon whom,
as well as the particular times when, and the places

Part IV. . AN APPEAL, Isfc. 121

where, they had been performed ; the facts were never
denied, but passed over in silence, or maliciously at-
tributed to the prince of the devils. By such a piti-
ful slander as this, Porphyry, Hierocles, Celsus, and
Julian the apostate, those learned and inveterate ene-
mies of Christianity, endeavoured (as the pharisees
had done before them) to sap the argument founded
upon the miracles of Christ and his disciples. So
sure then as God would never have displayed his arm,
in the most * astonishing manner for the support of
imposture, the sacred pen-men had their commission
from the Almighty, and their writings are his lively
oracles.

3. Reason itself dictates, that nothing but the plain-
est matter of fact, could induce so many, thousands of
prejudiced and persecuting Jews, to embrace the hum-
bling, self-denying doctrine of the cross, which they
so much despised and abhorred. Nothing but the
clearest evidence, arising from undoubted truth, could
make multitudes of lawless, luxurious heathens re-
ceive, follow, and transmit to posterity the doctrine
and writings of the Apostles ; especially at a time
when the vanity of their pretensions to miracles, and
the gift of tongues could be so easily discovered, had
they been impostors.... at a time when the profes-
sion of Christianity exposed persons of all ranks to
the greatest contempt, and most imminent danger.
In this respect the case of the primitive christians,
widely differed from that of Mahomet's followers :
For those, who adhered to the warlike, violent impos-
tor, saved their lives and properties, or uttained to ho-

* Once indeed the Lord permitted the magicians of Pgypt so to
use their art, as to counterfeit for a time some of Moses' miracles ;
but it was only to make the authenticity of others more conspicuous;
this being the happy effect of the contest, when those ministers of
Satan withdrew confounded, and forced to acknowledge, that the
finger of God was evidently displayed through the rod of their an-
tagonist.

L

122 AN APPEAL, &c. Part IV.

nour, by their new, easy, and flesh-pleasing religion :
but those, who devoted themselves to the meek, self-
denying, crucified Jesus, were frequently spoiled of
their goods, and cruelly put to death, or if they es-
caped with their lives, were looked upon as the very
dregs of mankind.

Add to this, that some of the most profound parts
of the scriptures, were addressed to the inhabitants .of
polite Greece, and triumphant Rome, among * whom
philosophy and literature, with the fine arts and the sci-
ences, were in the highest perfection ; and who, con-
sequently, were less liable to be the dupes of forgery and
imposture. On the contrary, gross ignorance over-
spread those countries, where Mahomet first broached
his absurd opinions, and propagated them with the
sword : A sure sign this, that the sacred writers did
not, like that impostor avail themselves of the igno-
rance, weakness, and helplessness of their followers,
to impose falsehood upon them.

4. When the authenticity of the miracles was at-
tested by thousands of living witnesses, religious rites
were instituted, and performed by hundreds of thou-
sands, agreeable to scripture injunctions, in order to
perpetuate that authenticity. And these solemn cere-

* Not many noble, not many wise are called, says the Apostle ;
nevertheless some of both, even at the rise of Christianity, openly
stood up for its truth. Among the noble we find Joseph, a mem-
ber of the great Jewish council, Dionysius one of the judges at
Athens, and Flavins Clemens a Roman senator : and among the
wise, Quadratus, Aristides, and Athenagoras, Athenian philoso-
phers ; Clemens, Arnobius, Ammonius, Annatolius, &e. men of
great learning at Alexandria ; and at Rome, Justin Martyr and
Tertullian, both famous apologists for the religion of Jesus, the lat-
ler of whom, in the second century, told the Roman governors,
that their corporations, councils, and armies, and the emperor's pa-
lace, were full of christians ; Nor is this improbable, since so early
as S,. Paul's days the saints of Coesar's household saluted those
of the Roman provinces. Phil. iv. zi. How credulous are they
who can believe that persons of such rank and learning could
be deluded by Jewish fishermen into the worship of a crucified
impostor.

Part IV. AN APPEAL, Isfc. 123

monies have ever since been kept up in all parts of the
world ; the passover by the Jews in remembrance of
Moses' miracles in Egypt ; and the eucharist by
christians, as a memorial of Christ's death, and the mi-
racles that accompanied it, some of which are recorded
by Phlegon the Trallian, an heathen historian.

5. The scriptures have not only the external sanc-
tion of miracles, but the internal stamp of the omni-
cient God, by a variety of prophecies, some of which
have already been most exactly comfirmed by the
event predicted ; witness the rise and fall of the four
grand monarchies according to Daniel's prophecy,
chap. ii. and vii. and the destruction of the ci'.y and
temple of Jerusalem, foretold by Christ, Matt. xxiv. 2.
while others are every day fulfilled in the face of infi-
dels, particularly the persecution of the real disciples
of Christ in our times, as well as in all ages (See Matt.
x. 22, 35. John xv. 20. and Gal. iv. 29.) and the pre-
sent miserable state of the Jews, so exactly described
by Moses above three thousand years ago. See Deut.
xxviii. 65.

6. Sometimes the plainest prophecies, the most
public miracles, and the annals of kingdoms, well
known when those books were first received, wonder-
fully concur to demonstrate their authenticity. Take
one instance out of many. A prophet out of Judah,
above 300 years before the event, thus foretold the pol-
lution of Jeroboam's altar at Bethel, before Jerboam
himself, who was attended by his priests, his courtiers,
and no doubt, a vast number of idolatrous worshippers:
O altar, altar, thus says the Lord, behold a child shall
be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name, who
shall burn men's bones upon thee : and this is the
sign : Behold, this very day, the altar shall be rent,
and the ashes that are upon it scattered. King Jero-
boam, enfiamed with anger, stretched forth his hand
against the man of God, saying to his guards, Lay hold
on him ; but his extended hand was dried up so that
he could not pull it in again to him ;the rending of the

124, AN APPEAL, fc*. Part IV

altar, and scattering of the fire, instantly took place ;
and the capital prophecy was exactly fulfilled by pious
king Josiah, as you may see by comparing 1 Kings
xiii. 1. Sec. with 2 Kings xxiii. 15. &c. Can we rea-
sonably suppose, that books, containing accounts of
such public events, would have been received as di-
vine by a divided people, if their authenticity had not
been confirmed by indubitable matter of fact ? Nay,
is it not as absurd to assert it, as it would be to affirm,
that the offices for the 5th of November, and the 30th
of January, were forged by crafty priests ; and that the
papists, puritans, and royalists of the last century,
agreed to impose upon the world the history of the
gun-powder plot, and of King Charles's decollation,
with which those parts of our liturgy are so insepara-
bly connected 1

7. This scattered, despised people, the irrecon-
cileable enemies of the christians, keep, with amazing
care * the old testament, full of the prophetic history
of Jesus Christ, and by that means afford the world a
striking proof that the new testament is true ; and
christians in their turn show, that the old testament is
abundantly confirmed, and explained by the new. The

* If the histories contained in the old testament, were in gene-
ral for the credit of the Jews, the love of praise might indeed have
engaged some of them to join in a public forgery But that book of
which they have always been so tenacious, presents the world
chiefly with an account of their monstrous ingratitude, unparalelled
obstinacy, perpetual rebellions, abominable idolatries ; and of
the fearful judgments, which their wickedness brought upon
them. Moses, who leads the van of their sacred authors, sums
up his history of the Israelites and draws up their character in
these disgraceful words, which he spake to their face : You have
been rebellious against the Lord, from the day that I knew you,
Beut. ix 24- And even David and Solomon, their greatest kings,
are represented in those books as guilty of the greatest enormities.
O ye deists, I appeal to your reason, and ask, Would you die for,
would you even connive at a notorious forgery, supposing the de-
sign of it were merely to impose upon the world as divine, a book
that should perpetually stigmatize your ancestors, and fix horrid
lilots upon the names, for which you have the greatest veneration ?

Part IV. AN APPEAL, lift. 125

Earl of Rochester, the great wit of the last century, was
so struck with this proof, that upon reading the 53d
chapter of Isaiah, with floods of penitential tears he
lamented his former infidelity, and warmly embraced
the faith, which he had so publicly ridiculed.

8. To say nothing of the venerable antiquity, and
the wonderful preservation of those books, some of
which are by far the most ancient in the world : To
pass over the inimitable simplicity, or time sublimity
of their stile ; they carry with them such characters
of truth, as command the respect of every unpreju-
diced reader.

They open to us the mystery of the creation, the na-
ture of God, angels, and man, the immortality * of the
soul, the end for which we were made, the origin and
connection of moral and natural evil, the vanity of this
world and the glory of the next. There we see in-
spired shepherds, tradesmen, and fishermen surpassing
as much the greatest philosophers, as these did the
herd of mankind, both in meekness of wisdom and
sublimity of doctrine.... There we admire the purest
morality in the world, agreeable to the dictates of sound
reason, confirmed by the witness which God has
placed for himself in our breast, and exemplified in the
lives of men of like passions with ourselves.. ..There we
discover a vein of ecclesiastical history and theological
truth, consistently running through a collection of six-
ty-six different books, written by various authors, in
different languages, during the space of above 1500
years. ...There we find, as in a deep and pure spring, all
the genuine drops and streams of spiritual knowledge,
which can possibly be met with in the largest libraries
....There the workings of the human heart are describ-

* It is remarkable that the wisest heathens with ill their philo-
sophy, seldom attained to a full assurance of the immortality of the
soul. Cicero himself says : Nescio quoomdo dum lego assentior ;
cum posui librum, et mecum ipse de immortalitate animorum coepi
cogitare assentto omnis ilia elabitur. Tusc. Quest, lib. L
L 2.

126 AN APPEAL, &c. Part VI.

ed, in a manner that demonstrates the inspiration
of the Searcher of hearts. ...There we have a particular
account of all our spiritual maladies, with their vari-
ous symptoms, and the method of a certain cure ; a
cure that has been witnessed by millions of martyrs
and departed saints, and is now enjoyed by thousands of
good men, who would account it an honour to seal the
truth of the scriptures with their own blood.... There
you meet with the noblest strains of penitential and joy-
ous devotion, adapted to the dispositions and states of
all travellers to Sion....And there you read those aw-
ful threatenings and cheering promises, which are
daily fulfilled in the consciences of men, to the admi-
ration of believers and the astonishment of attentive
infidels.

9. The wonderful efficacy of the Scriptures is an-
other proof that they are of God. When they are
faithfully opened by his ministers, and powerfully ap-
plied by his Spirit, they wound and heal, they kill and
make alive, they alarm the careless, turn or enrage
the wicked, direct the lost, support the tempted,
strengthen the weak, comfort mourners, aad nourish
pious souls. As the woman of Samaria said of Jesus,
Come see a man that told me all that ever I did : Is
not this the Christ ? A good man can say of the Bible,
4; Come, see a book that told me all that was in my
heart, and acquainted me with the various trials and
dangers I have met with in my spiritual travels ; a
book where I have found those truths, which, like a
divinely tempered sword, have cut my way through
ail the snares and forces of my spiritual adversaries ;
and by whose directions my soul has happily entered
the paradise of divine and brotherly love. Is not this
the book of God ?"

JO. To conclude : It is exceedingly remarkable,
that the more humble and holy people are ; the more
hey read, admire, and value the scriptures : and on
the contrary, the more self-conceited, worldly-minded,
ind wicked ; the more they neglect, despise, and as-
perse them.

Part IV. AN APPEAL, Wc. 127

As for the objections which are raised against
their perspicuity and consistency, those who are both
pious and learned know, that they are generally found-
ed on prepossession, and the want of understanding in
spiritual things ; or on our ignorance of several cus-
toms, idioms, and circumstances, which were perfectly
known when those books were written. Frequently
also the immaterial error arises merely from a wrong
punctuation, or a mistake of copiers, printers, or
translators ; as the daily discoveries of pious critics,
and ingenuous confessions of unprejudiced inquirers,
abundantly prove.

To the preceding arguments, I beg leave to add
the following queries. Do not disbelievers, by suppos-
ing that the scriptures are a forged book, and conse-
quently that Christianity is a false religion, run upon the
very rocks, which they seem so afraid of? And may
they not be charged with indirectly setting their seal
to opinions, far more incredible than those which they
reject ?

(1.) O ye Disputers of this world, if ye believe
that Moses and Jesus Christ, St. Peter and St Paulj
publicly worked sham miracles for years, in various
cities and countries, before thousands of their sharp-
sighted opposers, without ever being detected in any
of their tricks ; might you not as reasonable believe,
that thousands of shrewd men were once turned into
stupid asses ?

(2.) If you believe that the gospel is the produc-
tion of human deceit ; and yet, that in the prodigious
number of apostates once concerned in carrying on
the amazing villainy, such as Judas, Demas, Simon
Magus, Alexander the Copper-smith, who did St. Paul
much evil, Sec. not one was ever found, that would
prove the forgery : might you not as reasonably be-
lieve, that if Mr. Wilkes, and all his friends, knew of
a gross villainy, carried on by the ministry, in order
to turn the kingdom upside down ; neither he, nor any

128 AN APPEAL, tfc. Part IV.

one of them, could ever be prevailed upon to disclose
and prove it to the world ?*

(3.) You believe, that the miracles and resurrec-
tion of Christ, together wtth the gifts of the Holy-
Ghost, were nothing but enthusiastical or knavish
pretensions : and yet you are forced to grant, that
thousands of Jews, strongly attached to their religion,
amazingly averse to that of Jesus, and guilty of per-
secuting him unto death, took him openly for their
Saviour a few weeks after they had seen him publicly
scourged ; and in the very city in sight of which he
had just been crucified between two thieves. Now is
not this as absurd as to believe, that if a few fishermen
cried up the last person hanged in London for a no-
torious forgery ; and if they affirmed that he was the
Son of God, appealing to a great number of miracles,
supposed to have been wrought by him in the squares
and hospitals of the metropolis, and especially in St.;
Paul's church-yard: and maintaining that some of
them had been acknowledged genuine by the f great

* Pliny, a learned and prudent Roman governor, who was em-
ployed by the emperor Trajan in stopping the progress of Chris-
tianity, wrote to him, that the apostates affirmed, the whole of their
their crime had been to meet before day, and sing an hymn to
Christ as to their God. His own words are, " Affirmabant, hanc
" fuisse sumam vel culpae suae vel erroris, quod essent solid stato
" die ante lucem convenirc, carmenque Christo quasi Deo dicere."

t Some remarkable instances of this we have in the sacred
books, published when the facts above mentioned therein were no-
torious, and when some of the persons named were probably yet
alive. After the resurrection of Lazarus, the chief priests and the
pharisees gathered a council, and said, what do we ? for this man
does many miracles. If we let him alone, all men will believe on
him. John xi. 47.. ...And after Peter and John had publicly cured
the cripple, who used to beg at the gate o"f the temple ; the rulers,
and elders, and scribes, and Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas,
and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred x>f
the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem, saying what
shall we do to these men ? for that indeed a notable miracle has
been done by them, is manifest to all them that dwell at Jeru-
salem,*and we cannot deny it. Acts iv. 5—16.

Fart IV. AN APPEAL, &c. 129

council of the nation ; they could by such notorious
lies, engage thousands of citizens and some aldermen,
to put all their trust in the villain hanged at their spe-
cial request ?

(4.) You believe, that Christianity is a gross impos-
ture ; and yet you cannot deny, that thousands of learned
Romans and wise Greeks, who agreed to despise the
jews above all other men, took for their Saviour that
very Jesus, of whom his own countrymen had been
ashamed, and whom they had crucified as an impostor.
Is not this as absurd as to believe, that thousands of
wise Englishmen, and sensible Frenchmen, could be
induced by the absurd tale of two or three Hottentots,
to worship a certain Hottentot, whom the whole nation
of Hottentots had condemned to be hanged, as being
more worthy of an ignominious death than the bloody
ringleader or a seditious mob ?

(5.) If you believe with one of the popes, that the
history of Christ " is a mere fable," and that there ne ■
ver was such an extraordinary person, you believe that
the heathens, the jews, and the mahometans, have
agreed with the christians, their sworn enemies, to
carry on the most amazing imposture. For Fiiny,
Tacitus, Ducian and Suetonius, heathen authors, who
lived soon after Christ, make express mention of him :
as do also Mahomet, many of the rabbies, and Julian
the Emperor, that powerful and crafty apostate, who
not only never denied Christ's existence, but openly
acknowledged that Paul, Mark, Matthew, and Peter,
were the authors of the gospels and epistles, which
bear their name. Now is not this as ridiculous as to
believe, that the pope, the mufti, and the inquisitors,
have laid their heads with Messrs. Voltaire, Hume,
and Rousseau, to favour a forgery subversive of po-
pery, mahometanism, and infidelity ?

(6.) If you deny the authenticity of the four gos-
pels, which are the only ancient histories, that we have
of our Saviour ; and yet believe, that there was such
a personage as Jesus Christ, whose fame so spread

150 AN APPEAL, &c. Part IV.

through the Roman Empire, that in less than 330
years, he was not only reckoned superior to the Ro-
man Emperor, but to Jupiter himself; and that ne-
vertheless not one historian, during; all that time, gave
the world a particular account of him : (which must be
the case, if the four gospels are a forgery:) Might you
not as reasonably suppose, that if a blazing meteor
appeared in our day, and eclipsed the stars, the moon
and the sun itself : no astronomer for several centuries
would take particular notice of so wonderful a pheno-
menon ?

(7.) If the gospel is a delusion, you believe that
St. Paul, who was a man of sense, learning and in-
trepidity, was seduced by. ...no body, to preach for near
30 years, with astonishing zeal and matchless hard-
ships, an imposture, against the abettors of which, he
just before breathed nothing but threatnings and
slaughter. Would it be half so absurd to believe,
that Mr. Wilkes has suddenly commenced the minis-
ter's advocate, goes through the kingdom to recom-
mend the present administration, and accounts it an
honour to be mobbed, whipt, or stoned in every bo-
rough, for his excessive attachment to the king ?

(8.) The instantaneous conversion of thousands,
was wrought by means of public appeals to notorious
matter of fact. Hear the language of the Apostles
to the jews : This ye yourselves know, Acts ii. 24.
Ye know the thing done through all Judea, Actsx. 37,
38. The king knoweth these things. This thing was
not done in a corner, Acts xxvi. 26. Now if Christian-
ity is not founded upon indubitable facts, might you
not as well believe, that twelve men broke loose from
bedlam, brought last year thousands of deists over to
Christianity, by saying to them, " Ye know". ...what
you are perfect strangers to ; that is, " Ye know"....
that we are a pack of bedlamites ?

(9.) If the gospel is forged, you believe that the
Corinthians, &c. handed down to posterity, as a sacred
treasure, epistles where St Paul mentions their amaz-

Part IV. AN APPEAL, &c. 1 31

ing conversion from gross immoralities ; congratulates
them about the spiritual or miraculous gifts, in which
they abounded, 1 Cor. xii 1 . and gives them particular
directions, how to use the gift of tongues to edifica-
tion ; when yet they were totally unacquainted with
any such things. Might you not with equal wisdom
believe, that, if Mr. Wilkes wrote to the house of
commons, a congratulatory epistle about their having
received by the laying on of his hands the power of
speaking Turkish, Arabic, and Chinese, they would
carefully transmit his letter to the next generation, as
a divine performance ; and that none of Mr. Wilkes's
enemies would ever expose the impudence of so ab-
surd a pretension ?

(10.) If you say that the Apostles were fools, you
must believe, that foolish fishermen laid a scheme
with so much wisdom, and carried it on with so much
art as to deceive'multitudes of Greeks, noted for their
acuteness, and numbers of Romans famous for their
prudence. Might you not as well believe that twelve
poor, unarmed idiots, once combined to take the
strongest towns in Europe, and accomplished their
strange design by means, that strike the profoundest
politicians with astonishment ?

(11.) If you affirm that the Apostles were cheats
and liars, you run into as great a difficulty, for you
must believe that the greatest knaves that ever existed
contrary to their own principles and advantage, went
through the world, exposing themselves to the great-
est hardships and severest tortures unto death, to re-
commend both by their example and precepts, the
strictest piety towards God, and the most scrupulous
honesty towards man ; perpetually denouncing eter-
nal destruction to cheats and hypocrites, and the
torments of a lake that burnetii with fire and brimstone
to every one who loveth or maketh a lie. Would it
be more absurd to believe, that the twelve greatest
epicures in England, have for a course of years, ful-
filled a mutual agreement of preaching night and day,-

132 AN APPEAL, Ufe. Part IV.

abstinence and fasting through the three kingdoms,
merely to have the pleasure of starving to death for
r their pains ?

(12.) To conclude : If the gospel (and consequent-
ly the scripture) is an imposture, you suppose that
some poor Galilean fishermen, only by means of an
absurd lie, which they ( told without wit, and wrote
without elegance, foiled the multitude of the Jewish
and Pagan priests, who had prejudice, custom, pos-
session, learning, oratory, wealth, laws, governors,
and emperors on their side ; yea, and truth also, up-
on your principles, at least when they decried the
gospel as a cheat. Would it be more ridiculous to
believe, that David killed Goliah, with a grain of
sand, and cut of his head with a spire of grass : or
that our sailors sink men of war with a puff of
breath, while our soldiers batter down ramparts with
snow-balls ?

O ye sons of worldly wisdom, drop your unjust
prejudices ; candidly weigh both sides of the question,
and you will soon see, that in rejecting the gospel as
an imposture, you display a far greater degree of cre-
dulity, than we do in cordially receiving it.

After this short defence of the oracles of God, and
this little attack upon the persons who suspect their
authenticity, I hope I may (consistently with the plan
of an appeal to reason) produce from the scrifitures, a
few more arguments to prove the original depravity
and lost estate of mankind.

XXXI. ARGUMENT.

The spiritual life of the soul consists in its uni-
on with God, as the natural life of the body does in
its union with the soul : and as poison and the
sword kill the latter, so unbelief and sin destroy the
former.

Part IV. AN APPEAL, btc, 133

The first man was endued with this two-fold life ;
God, says the divine historian, breathed into him the
breath of lives, and he became a living body and a
living- soul : he had both an animal life in common
with beasts, and a spiritual life in common with angels.
St. Paul, who calls this angelical life, the life of God,
intimates that it consisted both in that experimental
knowledge of our Creator, wherein, says our church,
" standeth our eternal life," and in righteousness and
true holiness, the moral and most glorious image of
the supreme Being.

To suppose man was created void of this essential
knowledge and holy love, is to suppose he came very
wicked out of the hands of the parent of all good : For
what is a rational creature, that neither knows nor
loves his Creator, but a monster of stupidity and in-
gratitude, a wretch actually dead to God, and deserv-
ing present destruction ?

When the Lord therefore said to man, in the clay
that thou eatest thereof, that is in the day that thou
sinnest, thou shalt surely die, it was as if he had said ;
" In that very day, sin shall assuredly separate be-
tween thee and the God of thy life : Thou shalt cer-
tainly lose the glorious view, which thou hast of my
boundless goodness and infinite perfections ; Thou
shalt infallibly quench the spirit of ardentlove, and stop
the breath of delightful praise, by which thou livest
both to my glory and thy comfort : And thy soul dead
in trespasses and sins^shall remain in the filthy prison
of a mortal body, till death breaks it open, to remove
thee to thy own place."

And was not this Adam's case after his fall ? Did
he not know that he was naked, stript of the glorious
image of his Creator ? Did not guilty shame imme-
diately prompt him to hide and protect, as well as he
could, his degenerate and enfeebled body ? Devoid of
the ardent love he felt for God before, and of the pure
delight he enjoyed in him, was not he left the wretch-
ed prey of tormenting fears ? Did he not evidence

134 AN APPEAL, &c. Part IV.

his hatred of his heavenly Benefactor, by dreading
his voice, and flying from him as hastily as he should
have fled from the infernal serpent ?

Was he not deprived of the knowledge by which
at first sight, he discovered the nature of Eve, and
gave to all living creatures names expressive of their
respective properties ?....Was he not, I say, deprived
of that intuitive knowledge and excellent wisdom,
when he foolishly hid himself among the trees from,
his all-seeing, omnipresent Creator ? And is it not
evident that he was lost to all sense of filial fear to-
wards God, and conjugal love towards Eve, when,
instead of self-accusations, penitential confessions, and
earnest pleas for mercy, he shewed nothing at hia
trial but stubbornness, malice, and insolence ?

Such was the state of corruption into which Adam
had deplorably fallen, before he multiplied the hu-
man species. Now, according to the invariable laws
of providence, an upright, holy nature can no more
proceed from a fallen, sinful one, than gentle lambs
can be begotten by fierce tygers, or harmless doves
by venomous serpents: Common sense therefore, and
natural philosophy dictates, that our first parents
could not communicate the angelical life which they
had lost, nor impart to their children a better nature
than their own : and that their depravity is as much
ours by nature, as the fierceness of the first lion, is
the natural property of all the lions in the world.

FOUR OBJECTIONS.

I. Should it be said, that a This doctrine reflects
on the attributes of Cod, who, as the wise and gra-
cious Governor of the world, should have foreseen and
prevented the fall of Adam :"

I answer : (1.) God made man in his imag-e,
part of which consists in free agency, or a power to'
determine his own actions. And if creating a free

Part IV. AN APPEAL, &c 135

agent is not repugnant to divine wisdom and goodness ;
the wrong choice or sin of a free agent, can be no im-
peachment of those perfections in the Deity.*

(2.) Suppose man had not been endued with free-
dom of choice, he would only have ranked among

* God answers thus for himself in Milton.

Man will fall,
He and his faithless progeny. Whose fault ?
Whose but his own ? Ingrate ! he had of mc
All he could have : I made him just and right.
Suificiewt to have stood, though free to fall.
Such I created all th' etherial pow'rs ;
Freely they stood who stood, and fell who fell.
Not free, what proof could they have giv'n sincere
Of true allegiance, constant faith or love,
Where only what thty needs must do, appear'd ;
Not what they would ? What praise could they receive ?
What pleasure I from such obedience paid,
When will and reason (reason also is choice)
Useless and vain, of freedom both despoil'd,
Made passive both, had serv'd necessity,
Not me ? They therefore, as to right belong'd,
So were created, nor can justly accuse
Their Maker or their making, or their fate.
As if predestination over-rul'd
Their will, dispes'dby absolute decree,
Or high fore-knowledge. They themselves decreed
Their own revolt, not I ; if 1 fore-knew,
Fore-knowledge had no influence on their fault,
Which had no less prov'd certain unforeknown.

Young expresses the same sentiment with his peculiar boldness
and energy. 0

Blame not the bowels of the Deity :
Man shall be bless'd as far aiman permits-
Not man alone, all rationals, Heav'n arms
With an illustrious, but tremendous, pow'r
To counter-act its own most gracious ends ;
And this of strict necessity, not choice :
That pow'r deny'd, man, angels were no more,
But passive engines, void of praise or blame.
Heav'n wills our happiness, allows our doom :
Invites us ardently, but not compels ;
Heav'n but persuades, almighty man decrees ;
Man is the maker of immortal fates,
Man falls by man, if finally he falls*

136 AN APPEAL, Wc. Part IV.

admirable machines, and nothing could have been
more absurd than to place him in a state of probation.
And suppose, when he was in that state, divine pow-
er had irresistibly turned the scale of his will to obedi-
ence, the trial would have been prevented, and the
council of divine wisdom foolishly defeated,

(3.) God did all, that a wise and good Ruler of
rational and free creatures, could do to prevent sin.
He placed in Adam's heart, a vigorous principle of
holiness : lie granted him sufficient strength to con-
tinue in obedience : He indulged him with his blessed
presence and converse, to encourage him in the way
of duty : He strictly forbad him to sin : Ke enforced
the prohibition by the fearful threatning of death ;
He promised to crown his continuance in holiness,
with a glorious immortality ; and gave him the tree
of life, as a pledge of this inestimable blessing. To
have gone farther, would have been entirely inconsis-
tent with his wisdom ; an absolute restraint being as
contrary to the liberty of a moral agent, and the na-
ture of the divine law ; as chaining down an harmless
man that he may not commit murder, is contrary to
the freedom of Englishmen, and the laws of this
realm. Nor can we, either with reason or decency
complain that God did not make us absolutely im-
mutable and perfect like himself : This is charging
him with folly, for not enduing us with infinite wis-
dom, and knowledge every way boundless ; that is,
for not making us gods instead of men.

(4.) In case men fell, divine mercy had decreed
his recovery by Jesus Christ : And when the Almighty
Redeemer shall have brought life out of death, and
light out of darkness, the mysterious drama of crea-
tion and redemption, of which we see but one or two
acts, will appear, even to our objectors, every way
worthy of its infinitely wise and gracious Author.

II. In the mean time they will still urge, that
<;Adam'sposterity (then unborn) could not justly partake
of the consequences of his transgression." But, shall qa-

Part IV. AN APPEAL, &c. 13?

vils overthrow matter of fact ? Do not we see in every
unrenewed person, the unbelief, pride, sinful curi-
osity, sensuality, and alienation from God, to which
our first parents were subjected at their fall ? Do not
women bear children with sorrow as well as Eve ? Is
the ground less cursed for us than for Adam ? And do
not we toil, suffer, and die as he did? If this order of
things were unjust, would the righteous God have
permitted its continuance to the present time ?
Besides,

Adam contained in himself, as in miniature, all
his posterity. The various nations of men, are no-
thing out different branches growing from that original
root. They are Adam, or man, existing at large ;
as the branches of a spreading oak, with all the acorns
that have grown upon, and dropped from them, during
a long succession of summers, are nothing but the
original acorn, unfolding and multiplying itself with
all its essential properties. It is then as ridiculous to
wonder, that the sons of depraved Adam should natu-
rally be depraved, as that an acorn should naturally
produce an oak ; and a poisonous root, a malignant
plant. Again,

Adam was the general head, representative-, and
father of mankind ; and we suffer for his rebellion
legally ; as the children of those who have sold them-
selves for slaves, are born in a state of wretched
slavery ; and as the deseendents of a noble traitor, lose
the title by their ancestor's crime : Naturally, as the
sons of a bankrupt suffer poverty for their fathers
extravagance, or as Gehazi's leprosy clave to him ar.d
his seed for ever : And unavoidably, as an unborn
child shares the fate of his unhappy rnothery when
she inadvertently poisons, or desperately stabs herself.
III. " But," say the same objectors, " supposing
it be granted, that we are naturally depraved ; yet
if our depravity is natural, it is necessary ; and Vd^1
are no more biameabie for it, than lions for their fierce-
ness, or Ethiopians for their black complexion/'
M 2 .— -

138 AN APPEAL, IsFc. Part IV.

(1.) Our objectors would not, I presume, be un-
derstood to insinuate by " blameable," that our depra-
vity does not render us detestible in the eyes of an holy
God, or that it is not in itself blame-worthy. Do they
less dislike the complexion of the Ethiopians, or less
detest the destructive rage of lions, because it is natu-
ral to them ? If moral dispositions ceased to be worthy
of praise or dispraise, as soon as they are rooted, mo-
rally necessary, and, in that sense, natural ; what ab-
surd consequences would follow 1 Sinners would be-
come guiltless by arriving at compleat impenitency ;
and God could not be praised for his holiness, nor Sa-
tan dispraised for his sinfulness ; holiness being as
essential to God, by the absolute perfection of his na-
ture, as sin is morally necessary to the devil, by the
unconquerable habit which he has wilfully contracted,
and in which he obstinately remains.

(2.) Should they mean, that " we are not answer-
able or accountable for our depravity :" I reply,
Though I should grant (which I am very far from
doing*) that we are no way accountable for our moral
infection, yet it cannot be denied that we are answer-
able for our obstinate refusal of relief, and for the wil-
ful neglect of the means found cut by divine mercy for
our cure. Can we justly charge God with either our
misfortune, or our guilt ? Do not parents, by the law
of nature, represent their unborn posterity ? If Adam
ruined us by a common transgression ; has not Christ,
the second Adam, provided for us a common salva-
tion ? Jude 3. Heb. ii. 3. If by the offence of one,

* Milton introduces Adam speaking thus :

Ah why should all mankind,
For one man's fault, thus guiltless be condemn'^,
If guiltless ? but from me what can proceed,
But all corrupt, both mind and will deprav'd,
Not to do only, but to tvill the same
With me ? How can they then acquitted stand
In sight of God ? Him after all disputes
Forc'di absolve.

Part IV. AN APPEAL, Vc. 13*

(Adam,) judgment came upon all men to condemna-
tion ; by the righteousness of one (Christ,) is not the
free gift come upon all men to justification of life ?
Rom. v. 18. And since God has declared, that the son
shall not bear the iniquity of the father beyond the
short period of this transitory life ; if any suffer after
death, is it not entirely for their own unbelief, and pe-
culiar sins ? * Compare John iii. 18, l!X and Mark
xvi. 16. But what follows compleatly vindicates our
Creators's goodness.

(3.) Do sin and misery abound by our fall in Adam ,?
Grace- and glory abound much more by our redemp-
tion in Jesus Christ, Rom. v. 20. And " it must be ow-
ing to our u own perverseness, or our own negligence,"
(says the ingenious Hervey with great truth) " if
we do not levy " a tax upon our loss, and rise even by
our fall."t This leaves us not the least shadow of rea-
son, to complain of the divine proceedings respecting us.

* Milton introduces God speaking thus to the Messiah,

Man shall not quite be lost, but sav'd who will,
Yet not of will in him, but grace in me
Freely vouchsaf d : once more I will renew
His lapsed pow'rs....yet once more he shall stand
On even ground against his mortal foe,
By me upheld .-Be thou in Adam's room
The head of all mankind, though Adam's son.
As in him perish all men, so in thee,
As from a second root shall be restor'd
As many as are restor'd, without thee none.
His crimes make guilty all his sons ; thy merit
Imputed shall absolve them, who renounce
Their own both righteous, and unrighteous deeds,
And live in thee transplanted, and from thee
Receive new life.

f Creation's great superior, man, is thine :
Thine is Redemption. How should this great truth
Raise man o'er man, and kindle seraphs here !
Redemption ! Twas Creation more sublime :
Redemption ! 'Twas the labour of the skies :
Far more than labour. ..It was death in heav'n.
A truth so strange ! 'Twere bold to think it true ;
If not far bolder still to disbelieve.

1 40 AN APPEAL, &c. Part IV ;

We may then conclude, that a moral depravity,
which comes upon us by the wilful choice of a parent,
in whom we seminally and federally existed. ...a depra-
vity which cleaves to us by an obstinate neglect of the
infinitely precious means provided to remove it. ...a de-
pravity which works now by our own personal choice,
and to which we daily give our assent by the free
commission of sins that are avoidable, leaves us not only
accountable, but inexcusable before God.

IV. However the advocates for the natural purity
of the human race (endeavouring to clog with difficul-
ties, what they cannot disprove to be matter of fact)
still assert, " As we have our souls immediately from
God, if we are born sinful he must either create sinful
souls, which cannot be supposed without impiety ; or
send sinless souls, into sinful bodies, to be defiled by
the unhappy union, which is as inconsistent with his
goodness as his justice. Add to this, say the objec-
tors, that nothing can be more unphilosophical than to
suppose, that a body, a mere lump of organised mat-
ter, is able to communicate to a pure spirit that moral
pollution, of which itself, is as incapable, as the mur-
derer's sword is incapable of cruelty."

This specious objection, which Dr. Watts acknow-
ledges to be " the very chief point of difficulty, in all
the controversies about original sin," is wholly founded
upon the vulgar notion, that we have our souls immedi-
ately from God by infusion : It will therefore intirely
fall to the ground, if we can prove, that we receive
them, as well as our bodies, by traduction from Adam :
and that this is fact, appears, if I am not mistaken, by
the following arguments.

( 1 .) We have no ground from scripture or reason
tothink,that adulterers can, when they please, put God
upon creating new souls to animate the spurious fruit
of their crime. On the contrary, it is said, that God
rested on the seventh day from all his work of crea-
tion.

Part IV. AN APPEAL, &t. 141

(2.) Eve herself was not created but in Aclam ;
God breathed no breath of life into her, as he did into
her husband to make him a living soul. Therefore
when Adam saw her, he said ; she shall be called wo-
man, because she [her whole self, not her body only]
was taken out of man. If then the soul of the first wo-
man sprang from Adam's soul, as her body from his
body ; what reason have we to believe, that the souls
of her posterity are immediately infused, as Adam's
was when God created him ?

(3.) All agree, that under God we receive life from
our parents ; and if life, then certainly our soul, which
is the principle of life.

(4.) Other animals have power to propagate their
own species after its kind ; they can generate animated
bodies : Why should man be but half a father \ When
did Gdd stint him to propagate the mere shell of his
person, the body without the soul ? Was it when he
blessed him, and said, Be fruitful and multiply ? When
he spoke thus, did he not address himself to the soul,
as well as to the body ? Can the body alone either un-
derstand or execute a command 1 Is it not on the con-
trary highly reasonable to conclude, that by virtue of
the divine appointment and blessing, the whole man
can be fruitful and multiply ; and the soul, under pro-
per circumstances, can generate a soul, as a thought
begets a thought ; and can kindle the flame of life, as
one taper lights another, without weakening its im-
mortal substance, any more than God the Father (if I
may be allowed the comparison) impairs the divine es-
sence by the eternal generation of his only begotten
Son.

(5.) Does not matter of fact corroborate the pre-
ceding argument ? A . sprightly race-horse generally
begets a mettlesome colt ; while a heavy cart-horse
begets a colt, that bears the stamp of its sire's dulness.
And is it not so with mankind in general ? The chil-
dren of the Hottentots and Eskimaux are commonly
as stupid j while those of the English and French, are

142 AN APPEAL, ^c. Part IV.

usually as sharp as their parents. You seldom see a
wit springing from two half-witted people, or a fool
descended from very sensible parents. The children
of men of genius, are frequently as remarkable for
some branch of hereditary genius ; as those of block-
heads, for their native stupidity. Nothing is more
common, than to see very passionate and flighty pa-
rents have very passionate and flighty children. And
I have an hundred times discovered, not only the fea-
tures, look, aud complexion of a father or a mother
in a child's face; but seen a congenial soul looking out
[if I may so speak] at those windows of the body
which we call the eyes. Hence I conclude that the
advice frequently given to those, who are about to
chuse a companion for life, " Take care of the breed,"
is not absolutely without foundation ; although some
lay too much stress upon it, forgetting that a thousand
unknown accidents may form exceptions to the general
rule ; and not considering that the peculiarity of the fa-
ther's breed may be happily corrected by that of the
mother, [and vice versa :] and that as the grace of
God yielded to, may sweeten the worst temper, so
sin persisted in, may sour the best.

(6.) Again, Moses informs us, that fallen Adam
begat a son in his own likeness and after his image ;
But had he generated a body without a soul, he would
nothave begotten a son in his own likeness, since he was
not a mere mortal body, but a fallen embodied spirit.
Compare Gen. v. 3. with xlvi. 26.

" But upon this scheme, will objectors say, if
Adam was converted when he begat a son, he begat
a converted soul." This does by no means follow ;
for if he was born of God after his fall ; it was by-
grace through faith, and not by nature through
generation : he could not therefore commuuicate his
spiritual regeneration by natural generation, any more
than a great scholar can propagate his learning
together with his species.

Part IV. AN APPEAL Wc. U3

Should it be again objected, that " the soul is not ge-
nerated, because the scriptures declare, " The Lord is
the Father of the spirit of all flesh, and the spirit re-
turns to God who gave it :" I answer, It is also writ-
ten, that Job and David were " fearfully made and
fashioned by the hands of God in the womb ;" that he
" formed Jeremiah in the belly ;" and that " we are
the offspring of him, who made of one blood all na-
tions of men." Now if the latter scriptures do not
exclude the interposition of parents, in the formation
of their children's bodies ; by what rule of criticism or
divinity can we prove, that the former exclude that in-
terposition in the production of their souls.

Nor can materialists, who have no ideas of genera-
tion, but such as are gross and carnal like their own
system, with any shadow of reason infer, that " if the
soul is generated with the body, it will also perish with
it :" For dissolution is so far from being a necessary
consequence of the spiritual generation of souls, that
it would not so much as have followed the generation
of our bodies, If Adam had not brought " sin into the
world, and death by sin.". ...Again, if wheat, a material
seed which grows out of the same earthly clod with
the chaff that encloses it, can subsist unimpaired, when
that mean cover is destroyed ; how much more can
the soul (that spiritual, vital, heavenly power, which is
of a nature so vastly superior to the body in which it is
confined) continue to exist, when flesh and blood
are returned to their native dust !

Should some persons reject what I say of the tra-
duction of souls, in order to illustrate the derivation of
original sin : and should they say, that they have no
more idea of the generation than honest Nicode-
mus had of the regeneration of a spirit : I beg leave
to observe two things.

First, If such objectors are converted, they will
Hot deny the regeneration of souls by the Spirit of
God, since they experience it, and our Lord speaks of
it as a blessed reality, even while he represents it as a

144 AN APPEAL, Isfc. Part IV.

mystery unknown as to the manner of it, John iii. 8....
13. Now if pious souls have been regenerated from
the beginning of the world, without exactly knowing
how ; is it reasonable to deny that souls are generated,
merely because we cannot exactly account for the man-
ner, in which that wonder takes place.

Secondly, Should my objectors be versed in natural
philosophy, they need not be told, that even the kind
of generation, which they allow, is as much a mystery
to man, as the movement of a watch is to a child, that
just sees the case and the glass. If they will not be-
lieve me, let them believe him, who u gave his heart
to search out by wisdom, concerning all things that are
done under heaven," and who, touching upon our
question, says : " As thou knowest not what is the
way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the
womb of her that is with child : even so, thou know-
est not the works of God, who maketh all." Eccl.
xi. 5.

For my part, I do not see, why the same Almighty
Preserver of men, who (as St Paul tells us) " made of
one blood the bodies of all nations of men," might not
of one active thought, and ardent desire, have made the
souls of all nations of men also. Have not thought
and desire as great affinity to the nature of the soul,
as blood has to that of the body ? and consequently
are not our ideas of the traduction of the soul, as clear
as those, which we can form of the generation of the
body.

Having dwelt so long upon the manner in which
mankind naturally propagate original corruption, to-
gether with their whole species, I hope, I may rea-
sonably resume the conclusion of my argument, and
affirm, that, if Adam corrupted the fountain of human
nature in himself, we, the streams cannot but be natu-
rally corrupted.

Part IV. AN APPEAL, &c, 145

XXXII. ARGUMENT.

God being a Spirit, reason and revelation jointly
inform us, that his law is spiritual, and extends to
our thoughts and tempers, as well as to our words and
actions. At all times, and in all places, it forbids
every thing that is sinful, or has the least tendency to
sin ; it commands all that is excellent, and enjoins it to
be done in the utmost perfection of our dispensation.
Therefore, if we have not always trusted and de-
lighted in God, more than in all things and persons :
if for one instant we have loved, or feared the crea-
ture more than the Creator ; we have had another god
besides the Lord. Col. iii. 5. Phil. Hi. 19. ...Have we
once omitted to adore him in spirit and in truth in-
wardly, or at any time worshipped him without be-
coming veneration outwardly ; we have transgressed as
if we had bowed to a graven image, John iv. 24....
Though perjury and imprecations should never have
denied our lips : yet, if ever we mentioned God's
tremendous name thoughtlessly, or irreverently in
prayer, reading, or conversation, we have taken it in
vain, and the Searcher of hearts will not hold us guilt-
less, Phil. ii. 10. ...And if it has not been our constant
practice and delight, to enter his courts with praise,
and spend the whole sabbath in his blessed service, we
have polluted that sacred day, and the guilt of pro-
faneness may justly be charged upon us. Isa. lviii. 13.
Did we ever shew any^disrespect to our superiors,
or unkindness to our equals and inferiors ; Ave have
violated the precept that commands us to honour all
men, and be punctual in the discharge of all social and
relative duties. 1 Pet. ii. 17. ...Did we ever weaken our
constitution by excess, strike our neighbour in anger,
wound his character with an injurious word, or only
suffer hatred to rise in our breast against him ; we
have committed a species of murder ; for, " Whoso-
ever shall say to his brother, Thou fool, shall be in

146 AN APPEAL, Hfe. Part IV.

danger of hell-fire ;" and " Whosoever hateth his
brother is a murderer," Mat. v. 22. \ John iii. 15....
Are we " the friends of the world," an apostle brands
us with the name of adulterers, because we are false
to our heavenly bridegroom, James iv. 4. And if we
have only " looked on a woman to lust after her,"
Christ declares that we "have committed adultery
with her already in cur heart," Mat. v. 28. Have we
overcharged our customers, exacted upon any one in
our bargains, insisted on a full salary for work done by
halves, defrauded the king of any part of his taxes, or
taken advantage of the necessity and ignorance of
others to get by their loss : we swell the numerous
tribe of reputable thieves and genteel robbers, Matt,
xxii. 21. Neglecting to keep our word and baptismal
vow, or speaking an untruth, is " bearing false witness
against our neighbour, ourselves, or Christ who stiles
himself" the truth," Rev. xxii. 15. And giving place
to a fretful, discontented thought, or an irregular, en-
vious desire, is a breach of that spiritual precept, which
made St. Paul say, " I had not known lust, or a wrong
desire to be sin, except the law had said, Thou shalt
not covet," Rom. vii. 7,

Such being the extreme spirituality of the law, who
can plead that he never was guilty of breaking one,
er even all of the ten commandments ?

And if we have broken them all, either in their
literal or spiritual meaning, and are threatened for
every transgression, with a curse suitable to the Law-
giver's infinite majesty, who can conceive the greatness
of our guilt and danger ? Till we find a sanctuary
under the shadow of a Saviour's wings, are we not
us liable to the strokes of divine vengeance, as a felon,
guilty of breaking all the statutes of his country, is li-
able to the penalty of human laws ?

If this is not the case, there is no justice in the
court of heaven, and the laws given with so much ter-
ror from the Almighty's throne, like the statutes of
children, or the pope's bulls, are only " bruta fulmina,"
words without effect, and thunders without lightnings.

Part IV. AN APPEAL, Wr. 147

Some indeed natter themselves that " the law,
since the gospel-dispensation, abates much of its de-
mands of perfect love." But their hope is equally un-
supported by reason and scripture. The law is the
eternal rule of right, the moral picture of the God of
holiness and love. It can no more vary, than its eter-
nal, unchangeable original. The Lord " will not alter
the thing that is gone out of his mouth." He must
cease to be what he is, before his law can lose its pow-
er to bind either men or angels ; and all creatures
shall break sooner than it shall bend ; for if it com-
mands us only to " love God with all our heart, and
our neighbour as ourselves," what just abatement can
be made in so equitable a precept ? Therefore man
who breaks the righteous law of God as naturally as he
breathes, is and must continue, under its fearful curse,
till he has secured the pardon and help offered him in
the gospel.

XXXIII. ARGUMENT.

Nor is the gospel itself without its threatnings ;
for ifthe Lord, on the one hand, " opens the kingdom of
heaven to all believers ;" he declares, on the other, that
"they all shall be damned who believe not the truth,"
when it is proposed to them with sufficient evidence ;
and that " he who believeth not is condemned already,
because he hath not believed on the name of the only
begotten Son of God, 2 Thess. ii. 12. John iii. 18.
From these awful declarations, I draw the following
argument.

If faith is so essential a virtue, how depraved and.
wretched is man, who is so excessively slow of heart
to believe the things that concern his salvation ! Mat-
ter of fact daily proves, that we readily admit the evi-
dence of men, while we peremptorily reject the testi-
mony of God. Commodore Byron's extraordinary
account of the giants in Patagonia is or was every

1 48 AN APPEAL, bfc. Part IV.

where received : But that of Jesus Christ, concerning
those who " walk in the broad way to destruction," is
and has always been too generally disregarded. Matt,
vii. 13.

On reading in a news-paper an anonymous letter
from Naples, we believe, that rivers of liquid fire flow
from the convulsed bowels of a mountain, and form
burning lakes in the a jacent plains : But if we read
in the scripture, that Tophet, the burning lake, is pre-
pared of old for the impenitent, we beg leave to with-
hold our assent ; and unless divine grace prevents* we
must fall in, and feel before we will assent and believe,
Isa. xxx. 33.

Who, that has seen a map of Africa, ever doubted*
whether there is such a kingdom as that of Morocco*
though he never saw it, or any of its natives ? But who,
that has perused the gospel never doubted, whether
" the kingdom cf heaven within us," or that state of
" righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost,"
which God opens to believers upon earth, is not a mere
imagination ? Though Christ himself invites us to itr
and many pious persons, not only testify they enjoy it,
but actually shew its blessed fruits in heavenly tem-
pers, a blameless life, a triumphant death. Mark i.
14. Luke xvii. 21. Rom. xiv. 17. Rev. i. 6.

With what readiness do we depend upon an honest-
man's promise, especialy if it is reduced into a bond ?
But with what reluctance do we rely on the u many-
great and precious promises" of God, " confirmed by
an oath," delivered before the most unexceptionable
witnesses, and sealed by the blood of Jesus Christ ?
2 Pet. i. 4. 2 Cor. i. 20. Heb. vi. 17.

And ye, numerous tribe of patients, how do ye
shame those who call themselves christians ! So entire
is the trust which you repose upon a physician's ad-
vice, whom perhaps you have seen but once, that you
immediately abstain from your pleasant food, and re-
gularly take medicines, which for what you know,
aaay be as injurious to your stomach, as they are of-

Part IV. AN APPEAL, e*. H9

fensive to your palate : But we who profess Christiani-
ty, generally quarrel with Christ's prescriptions ; and
if we do not understand the nature of a remedy which
he recommends, we think this a sufficient reason for
refusing it. From Christ only, if we can help it, wcr
will take nothing upon trust.

One false witness is often sufficient to make us
believe, that a neighbour vows to do us an injury ;
but twenty ministers of Jesus cannot persuade us, God
hath sworn in his wrath, that if we die in our sins we
shall not enter into his rest, Psal. xcv. 1 1. or that if
we come to him for pardon and life, he will in no
wise castus out, John vi. 37....Themost defamatory and
improbable reports spread with uncommon swiftness :
and pass for matter of fact : But when St. Paul tes-
tifies, that if any man hath not the Spirit of Christ,
he is none of his, Rom. viii. 9. who believes his tes-
timony ? Does not the same mind that was open to
scandalous lies, prove shut against such a revealed
truth ?

Isaiah asks, Who hath believed our report ? and
Jesus says, When the Son of man cometh shall he
find faith upon the earth? alas ! there would have
been no room for these plaintive questions, if the
word of God had not been proposed to our faith ; for
the most groundless and absurd assertions of men
find multitudes of believers. We see daily, that an
idle runiQur about a peace or a war, meets with such
credit as to raise or sink the stocks in a few hours.

It is evident that man has a foolish and evil heart
of unbelief, ready to strain out a gnat in divine reve-
lation, while he greedily swallows up the camel of
human imposture. Now if it is part of the gospel
which Christ commands his ministers to preach to
every creature, that he who belie veth not shall be
damned, Mark xvi. 16. how great is the depravity,
and how imminent the danger of fallen man, who has
such a strong propensity, to so destructive, co danma--
bie a sin as unbelief !

n 2,

150 AN APPEAL, &c. Part IV,

XXXIV. ARGUMENT.

But, let us come still nearer to the point. If we
are hot by nature conceived in sivt, and children of
wrath, millions of infants, who die without actual sin,
have no need of the blood of Christ to wash their
robes, nor his Spirit to purify their hearts. The
incarnation of the Eternal word, and the influences
of the Holy Spirit, are as unnecessary to them, as
the visits of a physician, and his remedies to persons
in perfect health. Their spotless innocency is a suf-
ficient passport for heaven : Baptism is ridiculous,
and the christian religion absurd in their case.

Nor does it appear, why it might not be as absurd
with regard to the rest of mankind, did they but act
their part a little better : For if we are naturally in-
nocent, we have a natural power to remain so ; and
by a proper use of it, w e may avoid standing in need
of the salvation procured by Christ for the lost.

Nay, if innocent nature, carefully improved, may
be the way to eternal life, it is certainly the readiest
way, and the Son of Gcd speaks like the grand de-
ceiver of mankind, when he says, I am the way no
man cometh to the Father but by me. Christians, let
self-conceited deists entertain the thought* but har-
bour it not a moment ; In you it would be highly blas-
phemous.

XXXV. ARGUMENT.

And that you may detest it the more, consider
further, that ail the capital doctrines of Christianity
are built upon that fundamental article of our depra-
vity and danger. If all flesh hath not corrupted its
way, how severe are those words of Christ, Except
ye repent, ye shall all perish: and Except ye be eon-
lifted, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of hea-
ven ?.,..!£ ail are net carnal and earthly by their first

Part IV. AN APPEAL, fcfr. 1 M

birfh, how absurd is what he said to Nicodemus ; Ex-
cept a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom
of heaven ? If there is any spiritual health in us by
nature, how notoriously false are these assertions :
All our sufficiency is of God : Without me ye can do
nothing ? If every natural man is not the reverse of
the holiness, in which Adam was created ; how irra-
tional these and the like scriptures ? If any man is in
Christ, he is a new creature : In Christ Jesus neither
circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision,
but a new creature. ...To conclude : If mankind are not
universally corrupt, guilty, and condemned ; how un-
necessarily alarming is this declaration ! He that be-
lievethnot on the Son of God is condemned already....
The wrath of God abideth on him : and if we are not
foolish, unrighteous, unholy and enslaved to sin ;
why is Christ made to us of God, wisdom, righteous-
ness, sanctification, and redemption ? Take away
then the doctrine of the fall ; and the tower of evan-
gelical truth, built by Jesus Christ, is no more founded
on a rock, but upon the sand : Or rather, the stately
' fabrick is instantly thrown down, and leuves no ruins
behind it, but the dry morality of Epictetus, covered
with the rubbish of the wildest metaphors, and buried
in the most impertinent ceremonies.

XXXVI. ARGUMENT.

One more absurdity still remains. If man is not
in the most imminent danger of destruction, nothing
can be more extravagant than the great article of the
christian faith thus expressed in the Nicene creed :
" Jesus Christ, very God of very God, by whom all
things were made, for us men, and for our salvation
came down from heaven, was made man, and was
crucified for us."

Is it not astonishing, that there should be people
so infatuated as to. join every Lord's day in this solemn.

152 AN APPEAL, &c. Part IV.

confession, and to deny, the other six, the horrible
danger to which they are exposed, till they have an
interest in Christ ? Is not the least grain of common
sense sufficient to make an attentive person see, that
if he, by whom all things were made, came from hea-
ven for our salvation, if he was made man that he
might suffer and be crucified for us ; he saw us guilty,
condemned, lost and obnoxious to the damnation,
which we continually deprecate in the litany ? Shall
we charge the Son of God, in whom are hid all the
treasures of divine wisdom, with the unparalleled
folly of coming from heaven to atone for innocent
creatures, to reprieve persons uncondemned, to re-
deem a race of free men, to deliver from the curse a
people not accursed ; to hang by exquisitely dolorous
wounds, made in his sacred hands and feet, on a tree
more ignominious than the gallows, for honest men
and , very good sort of people ; and to expire under
the sense of the wrath of heaven, that be might save
from heil people in no danger of going there ?

Reader, is it possible to entertain for a moment
these wild notions, without offering the utmost indig-
nity to the Son of God, and the greatest violence to
common sense ? And does not reason cry as with the
sound of a thousand trumpets, " If our Creator could
not save us consistantly with his glorious attributes,
but by becoming incarnate, passing through the deep-
est scenes of humiliation and temptation, distress and
want, for thirty three years ; and undergoing at last
the most shameful, painful, and accursed death in our
place ; our wickedness must be desperate, our sins ex-
ecrable, our guilt black as the shadow of death, and
our danger dreadful as the gloom and torments of
hell ?"

" Shocking doctrine !" says the self-conceited mo-
ralist, as he rises from his chair fuil of indignation, and
ready to throw aside the arguments he cannot answer.
Reader, if you are the man, remember that this is an
appeal to reason and not to passion, to matter of fact*

Part IV. AN APPEAL, W. 153

and not to your vitiated taste for pleasing error. You
may cry out at the sight of a shroud, a coffin, a grave,
" Shocking objects 1" But your loudest exclamations
will not lessen the awful reality, by which many
have happily been shocked into a timely consideration
of, and preparation for, approaching death.

" But this doctrine, you still urge, drives people to
despair.". ...Yes to a despair of being saved by their own
merits and righteousness ; and this is as reasonable in
a sinner who comes to the Saviour, as despairing to
swim across the sea, is rational in a passenger that
takes ship. Our church, far from speaking against it,
says, that " Sinners should be dismayed at God's right-
ful justice, and should despair indeed, as touching any
hope that may be in themselves" Horn. On falling
from God, 2d part.

A just despair of ourselves is widely different from
a despair of God's mercy, and Christ's willingness to
save the chief of sinners, who flies to him for refuge.
This horrible sin, this black crime of Judas, springs
rather from a sullen, obstinate rejection of the reme-
dy, than as some vainly suppose from a dear know-
ledge of the disease : And that none may commit it,
Christ's ministers take particular care not to preach
the law without the gospel, and the fall without the re-
covery : no sooner have they opened the wound of sin,
festering in the sinner's conscience, than they pour in
the balm of divine promises, and make gracious offers
of a free pardon, and full salvation by the compassion-
ate Redeemer, who came to justify the ungodly, and
to save the lost.

And indeed those only, who see their sin and mi-
sery, will cordially embrace the gospel : for common
sense dictates, that none care for the king's mercy,
but those who know they are guilty, condemned cri-
minals. How excessively unreasonable is it then to
object, that the preaching of man's corrupt and lost
estate drives people to despair of divine mercy, wher
it is absolutely the only means of shewing them their

154 AN APPEAL, &c. Part IV.

need of it, and making them gladly accept it upon
God's own terms.

Leaving therefore that trite objection to the un-
thinking vulgar, once more, judicious reader, summon
all your rational powers ; and, after imploring help
from on high to use them aright, say, whether these
last arguments do not prove, that no christian can deny
the complete fall of mankind, without renouncing the
capital doctrines of his own religion ; overturning the
very foundation of the gospel, which he professes to
receive ; staining the glory of the Redeemer, whom
he pretends to honour ; and impiously taking from his
crown, wisdom, truth, and charity, the three jewels
that are its brightest ornaments... Sum up then all
that has been advanced, concerning the afflictive deal-
ings of God's providence with mankind, and the base
conduct, or wicked temper of mankind towards God,
one another, and themselves... .Declare, if all the ar-
guments laid before you, and cleared from the thickest
clouds of objections that might obscure them, do not
cast more light upon the black subject of our depra-
vity, than is sufficient to shew that it is a melancholy
truth.... And finally pronounce, whether the doctrine of
our corrupt and lost estate, stated in the words of the
sacred writers, and of our pious reformers, is not ra-
tionally demonstrated, and established upon the firm-
est basis in the world, Matter of fact, and the dic-
tates of common sense.

FIFTH PART.

WHEN a doctrine has been clearly demonstrat-
ed, the truths that necessarily spring from it, cannot
reasonably be rejected. Let then common sense de-
cide, whether the following consequences do not neces-
sarily result from the doctrine of the fall, establised in
the preceding parts of this treatise.

I. Inference. If we are by nature in a corrupt
and lost estate, the grand business of ministers is to
rouse our drowsy consciences, and warn us of our im-
minent danger : It behoves them to cry aloud and
spare not, to lift up their voice like a trumpet, and
shew us our transgressions and our sins : Nor are
they to desist from this unpleasing part of their office
till we awake to righteousness, and lay hold on the
hope set before us.

If preachers, under pretence of peace and good
nature, let the wound fester in the conscience of their
hearers, to avoid the thankless office of probing it to
the bottom : If, for fear of giving them pain by a
timely amputation : they let them die of a mortifica-
tion : Or if they heal the hurt of the daughter of God's
people slightly, saying Peace ! Peace I when there is
no peace ; they imitate those sycophants of old, who,
for fear of displeasing the rich and offending the great,
preached smooth things, and prophesied deceit.

This cruel gentleness, this soft barbarity is attended
*rith the most pernicious consequences, and will de-

15S AN APPEAL, KTc. Part V.

servedly meet with the most dreadful punishment.
Give sinners warning from me, says the Lord to every
minister : When I say to the wicked, the unconverted,
Thou shalt surely die ; and thou givest him not warn-
ing, he shall die in his iniquity, in his unconverted
state ; but his blood will I require at thy hand. See
Matt, xviii. 3. Ezek. iii. 18. and xiii. 10. o.

II. Infer. If we are naturally depraved and con-
demned creatures ; self-righteousness and pride, are
the most absurd and monstrous of all our sins. The
deepest repentance and profoundest humility become
us : To neglect them, is to stumble at the very thres-
hold of true religion ; and to ridicule them, is to pour
contempt upon reason, revelation, and the first opera-
tions of divine grace on a sinner's heart.

III. Infer. If the corruption of mankind is univer-
sal, inveterate, and amazingly powerful, no mere crea-
ture can deliver them from it. They must remain un-
restored ; or they must have an almighty, omniscient,
omnipresent, unwearied, infinitely patient Saviour ; wil-
ling day and night to attend to the wants, and public or
secret applications of millions of wretched souls ; and
able to give them immediate assistance throughout the
world ; in all their various trials, temptations, and
conflicts both in life and in death. Is the most exalted
creature sufficient for these things ?

When such a vast body as mankind, spread over
all the earth for thousands of years, made up of nume-
rous nations, all of which consist of multitudes of in-
dividuals, each of whom lias the springs of all his facul-
ties, and powers enfeebled, disordered, or broken :
When such an immense body as this, is to be restor-
ed to the image of the infinitely holy, glorious and bless-
ed God, common sense dictates, that the amazing
task can be performed by no other than the original
Artist, the great Searcher of hearts, the omnipotent
Creator of mankind.

Hence it appears, that notwithstanding the cavils
of Anus, the Saviour is God over all blessed for ever,

Pa-rt V. AN APPEAL, &V. 157

all things were made by him, he upholds all things by
the word of his power, and every believer may adore
him, and say, with the wondering apostle, when the
light of faith shone into his benighted soul, My Lord
and my God !

IV. Infer. If our guilt is immense, it. cannot be
Expiated without a sacrifice of an infinite dignity : Hence
we discover the mistake of heathens and carnal jews,
who trusted in the sacrifices of beasts : the error of de-
ists, Mahometans, and Socinians, who see no need of
any expiatory sacrifice ; and the amazing presumption
of too many christians, who repose a considerable
part of their confidence in the proper merit of their
works ; instead of placing it entirely in the infinitely
meritorious sacrifice of the immaculate Lamb of God,
humbly acknowledging that all the gracious rewarda-
bleness of the best works of faith, is derived from hi*
precious blood and original merit.

V. Infer. If our spiritual maladies are "both nu-
merous and mortal, it is evident, we cannot recover
the spiritual health that we enjoyed in our first parents,
but by the powerful help of our heavenly Physician,
the second Adam. How absurd is it then to say, that
we are saved, or recovered by doing good works, with-
out the quickening grace of a Saviour ?

A wretched beggar is lame both in his hands and
feet: An officious man, instead of taking him to a per-
son famous for his skill in relieving such objects of dis-
tress, assures him that the only way of getting*well is
to run of errands for his prince, and work for his fel-
low-beggars. You justly wonder at the cruelty and
folly of such a director: But you have much more
reason to be astonished at the conduct of those misera-
ble empirics, who direct poor, blind, lame sinners, la-
bouring under a complication of spiritual disorders, and
sick even unto eternal death, to save themselves merely
by serving God, and doing good to their neighbours ;
as if they needed neither repentance towards God, nor
faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, nor yet free grace to en-
o

158 AN APPEAL, If*. Part V,

able them to repent, believe, and serve God accept-
ably.

How much more rational is the evangelical method
of salvation! we are saved, says the apostle, we are re-
stored to saving health, and a spiritual activity to serve
God and our neighbour, not by works, not of ourselves ;
but by grace, by mere favour ; through faith, through
such an entire confidence in our Physician, as makes
us gladly take his powerful remedies, abstain from
the pleasing poison of sin, and feed on those divine
truths which communicate angelical vigour and happi-
ness to our souls. Eph. ii. 8.

VI. Infer. If our nature is so completely fallen
and totally helpless, that in spiritual things we are not
sufficient of ourselves to think any thing truly good as
of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God ; it is plain we
stand in absolute need of his Spirit's assistance, to en-
able us to pray, repent, believe, love and obey aright.
Consequently, those who ridicule the Holy Spirit, and
his sacred influence, despise the great helper of our
infirmities, and act a most irrational, wicked, and despe-
rate part. Rom. viii. 26.

VII. Infer. If by nature we are really and truly
born in sin, our regeneration cannot be a mere meta-
phor, or a vain ceremony ; our spiritu?J birth must be
real and positive. How fatal therefore is the mistake
of those, who suppose that the new birth is only a figu-
rative expression for a decent behaviour ! How dread-
ful the 'error of those, who imagine that all, whose
faces have been typically washed with material water
in baptism, are now effectually born again of living wa-
ter and the Holy Spirit ! And how inexcusable the case
of the multitudes, who in the church of England, are
under this dangerous mistake, so prudently guarded
against by our pious reformers !

In our chatechism, they clearly distinguish between
the outward visible sign or form in baptism, and the
inward, spiritual grace : And by defining the latter, a
death unto wn, and a new birth unto righteousness,

PartV. AN APPEAL, &c. 159

they declare that whosoever is not dead or dying to
sin and alive to righteousness, is not truly regenerate,
and has nothing of baptism but the outward and visible
sign. In the 27th of our articles they mention, that
baptism is not the new birth, but a sign of regenera-
tion or new birth, whereby, as by an instrument, they
who receive baptism rightly are grafted into the
church. And if our church returns thanks for the re-
generation of the infants, whom she has admitted to
baptism, it is chiefly * upon a charitable supposition,
tha tthey have received it rightly, and will, for their part
faithfully perform the promises made for them by their
sureties. If they refuse to do it when they come of
age, far from treating them as her regenerate children,
she denounces a general excommunication against
them, and charges them not to come to her holy table,
lest Satan brings them, as he did Judas, to destruction
both of body and soul.

VIII. Infer. If the fall of mankind in Adam,
does not consist in a capricious imputation of his. per-
sonal guilt, but in a real, present participation of his
depravity, impotence and misery ; the salvation that be-
lievers have in Christ is not a capricious imputation
of his personal righteousness ; but a real present par-
ticipation of his purity, power and blessedness, together
"with pardon and acceptance.

Unspeakably dangerous then is the delusion of
those, whose brains and mouths are filled with the
notions and expressions of imputed righteousness ;
while their poor, carnal, unregenerate hearts remain
perfect strangers to the Lord our righteousness.

* I say chiefly, because our church gives thanks also for Christ's
.general grace and mercy to children, declaring herself persuaded of
the good will of our heavenly Father towards this [unbaptized] in-
fant, through Christ, who said, that of little children is the king-
dom of heaven. The truth lies between the error of the pelagian j,
who suppose that unbaptized infants are sinless like angels ; and
that of the papists, who affirm that they are graceless as devils.

1.60 A>T APPEAL, &c. Part V.

IX. Infer. If the corrupt nature which sinners
derive from Adam,v spontaneously produces all the
wickedness that overspreads the earth; the holy nature
which believers receive from Christ, is also spontane-
ously productive of all the fruits of righteousness, de-
scribed in the oracles of God : Good works springing
out * necessarily of a true and lively faith.

Such ministers therefore, as clearly preach our
fall in Adam, and that faith in Christ, which is produc-
tive of genuine holiness and active love, will infallibly
promote good works and pure morality : When those
who insist only upon works and moral duties, will nei-
ther be zealous of good works themselves, nor instru-
mental in turning sinners from their gross immorali-
ties. The reason is obvious : Evangelical preachers
follow their Lord's wise direction : Make the tree
good, and the fruit shall be good also, but moralists
will have corrupt trees bring forth good fruit, which in
the nature of things is impossible, Matt. xii. 33. Luke
vi. 43. Therefore, as nothing but faith makes the tree
good, and as without faith it is impossible to please God:
the christian, that will come to him with good works,
must not only believe [as heathens] that he is, and
that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him ;
but also that he was in Christ, reconciling the world
unto himfelf, Sx.

X. Infer. If corruption and sin work so powerfully
and sensibly, in the hearts of the unregenerate, wa
•may, without deserving the name of enthusiasts, affirm
that the regenerate are sensible of the powerful effects
of divine grace in their souls ; or to use the words of
our 17th article, we may say, They feel in themselves
the workings of the Spirit of Christ : For where the
poison of sin hath abounded, and has been of course
abundantly felt : grace, the powerful antidote that ex-

• This is to be understood of a moral, and not of an absolute*
irresistible necessity, for faith never unmans the believer.

TaktV. AN APPEAL, ere. 161

pels it, does much more abound, and consequently may-
be much more perceived.

Therefore the knowledge of salvation by the for-
giveness of sins, the assuraace of faith, and the peace
of God passing all understanding, are the experienced
blessings of the converted; as certainly as a guilty,
conscience, the gnawing of worldly cares, the working
of evil tempers, the tumults of unbridled appetites,
and the uproars of rebellious passions, are the experi-
enced curses. of the unconverted.

Reader, if these inferences are justly drawn, is it
Hot evident, that the * principles generally exploded
among us, as enthudastical or methodistical, flow from
the doctrine demonstrated in this treatise, as naturally
as light from the sun ? These consequences lead you
perhaps farther than you could wish ; but let them not
make you either afraid or ashamed of the gospel. Pre-
judicies, like clouds, will vanish away ; but truth,
which they obscure for a time, like the sun, will shine
for ever. A great man in the law said, Fiat Justitia,
ruat mundus. Improve the noble sentiment, and say
with equal fortitude, Stet Veritas, ruat mundus : Let
truth stand, though the universe should sink into
ruins.

But happily for us, the danger is all on the side of
the opposite doctrine ; and that you may be convinced
of it, I present you next with a view of the

* Those doctrines, pointed out in the ten abovementioned infer-
ences, are. ...i. The alarming severity of the law....2- The need of
a deep, heart-fek repentance-..^. The divinity of Christ....^.. The
infinite merit of his sacrifice....j. Salvation by faith in him.. 6. The
influences of his Holy Spirit.. ..7. The reality of the new-birth.... 8,
The necessity of a present salvation ... 9. The zeal of believers for-
good works, and to. The comfortable assurance which they have^
. of. their regeneration.

o 2

162 AN APPEAL, Ufc. Part V.

DREADFUL CONSEQUENCES

Necessarily resulting from the ignorance of our depravity
and danger.

1 . As the tempter caused the fall of our first pa-
rents, by inducing them to believe, that they should not
surely die, if they broke the divine law: So now we
are fallen, he prevents our recovery by suggesting,
" the bitterness of death is past," and " we are in a
state ofsafety."....Henceitis, that you sleep on in car-
nal security, O ye deluded sons of men, and even dream*
ye are safe and righteous. Nor can ye escape for
your lives, till the veil of unbelief is taken away, and
ye awake to a sight of your corrupt and lost estate :
For there is no guarding against, nor flying from, an
unseen, unsuspected evil : Here, as in a conspiracy,
the danger continually increases, till it is happily dis-
covered.

2. If we are not sensible of our natural corruption,
and the justice of the curse intailed upon us on that ac-
count ; can we help thinking God a tyrant, when he
threatens unconverted moralists with the severest of
his judgments, or causes the. black storms of his pro-
vidence to overtake us and cur dearest relatives ?

Answer, ye self-righteous pharisees, that so bitterly
exclaim against the ministers, who declare by the au-
thority of scripture, that, except ye repent,, ye shall all
perish. Answer, fond mother, whose tears, of dis-
traction, mix with the cold sweat of the convulsed, dy-
ing infant on thy lap. Dost thou not secretly impeach
divine justice and accuse heaven of barbarity ? Ah! if
thou didst but know the evil nature, which thou and
thy Isaac have brought iyito the world; if thou sawest
the root of bitterness, which the hand of a gracious
Providence even now extracts from his heart.; far. from
being ready to curse God and die with thy child, thou
Yrouidst pcituiitiy acquiesce in the kindly -severe /dis-

PartV. AN APPEAL, Wc. 163

pensation : Thou wouldst clear him when he is judged
by such as thyself, and even glorify him in the evil day
of this painful visitation.

3. Though man's heart is hardened as steel, it does
not frequently emit the hellish sparks of such murmur*
ings against God, because it can seldom be struck by the
flint of such severe afflictions ; yet the mischief is there,
and will break out, if not by blasphemous despair, at
least, by its contrary, presumptuous madness. Yes,
reader, unless thou art happily made acquainted with
the strength of thy inbred depravity thou wilt rashly
venture among the sparks of temptation : With carnal
confidence thou wilt ask, " What harm can they do
me V* And thou wilt continue the hazardous sport,
till sin and wrath consume thee together. Nor will
this be more surprising, than that one, who carries a
bag of gun powder, and knows not the dangerous nature
of his load, should fearlessly rush through the midst
of flames or sparks, till he is blown up and destroyed.

4. This fatal rashness is generally accompanied
with a glaring inconsistency. Do not you make the
assertion good, ye saints of the present age, who pre-
tend to have found the secret of loving both God and
the world ? Do not we hear you deny to men, that you
are condemned ; and yet cry to God to have mercy
upon you ? But if you are not condemned, what need
have yen of mercy ? And if you are, why do you deny
your lost estate ? Thou too, reader, wilt fall into this
absurdity, unless thou knowest thy just condemnation.
But the mischief will not stop here ; for,

5. Ignorance of the mystery of iniquity within you,
must, in the nature of things, cause you to negiect
prayer, or to pray out of character. As unhumbied
mcralists, instead of approaching the throne, of grace,
with the self-abasement of the penitent publican, say-
ing, God be merciful unto me a sinner: you will pro-
voke the Most High, by the open prophaneness of the
sadducee ; or insult him by the self-conceited services
of the pharisee, boasting ye clo no harm, and thanking

164 AN APPEAL, bV. PartV.

God ye are not as other men. On these rocks your
formal devotion will split, till you know, that, as the
impenitent and prayerless shall perish, so the Lord
accepts no penitential prayer, but that of the mail, Who
knows the plague of his own heart ; because he alone
prays in his own character, and without hypocrisy.
I Pet. v. 5. 1 Kings viii. 38.

6. And as you cannot approach the throne of grace
aright while you remain insensible of your corruption j
so the reading or preaching of God's word, till it an-
swers the end of conviction, is of no service to you, but
rather proves, to use St. Paul's nervous expression,
the savour of death unto death. For when the terrors
of the law only suit your case, you vainly catch at the
comforts of the gospel; or rather you remain as un-
affected under the threatening^ of the one, as under the
promises of the other : You look on mount Sinai and
on mount Sion, with equal indifference, and the warmth
of the preacher who invites you to fly from the wrath
to come, appears .to you an instance of religious mad-
ness. Nor is it a wonder it should, while you continue
unacquainted with your danger : When a mortal disease
is neither felt nor suspected, a pathetic address upon
its consequences and cure, must be received by any
reasonable man, with the greatest unconcern ; and the
person that makes it in earnest, must appear exceed-
ingly ridiculous. Again,

7. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge,
says the Lord. This is true particularly with regard to
the knowledge of our depravity. Reader, if thou re-
mainest a stranger to it, thou wilt look upon slight con-
fessions of outward sins as true repentance; and the
godly sorrow that worketh repentance to salvation, will
appear to thee a symptom of melancholy. Taking an
external reformation of manners, or a change of cere-
monies and opinions, for true conversion, thou wjit
think thyself in a safe state, while thy heart continues.
habitually wandering from God, and under the domi-
jiion of a worldly spirit. In a word, some of the

£art V AN APPEAL, &t. m

branches of the tree of corruption thou mayst possibly
lop off, but the root will still remain and gather
strength. For it is plain, that abaci root, supposed not
to exist, can neither be heartily lamented, nor ear-
nestly struck at -with the axe of self-denial.

Even an Heathen could say ;* " the knowledge of
sin, is the first step towards salvation from it : For he
who knows not that he sins, will not submit to be set
right : Thou must find out what thou art, before thou
canst mend thyself. Therefore when thou discoverest
thy vices, to which thou wast before a stranger, it is a
sign that thy soul is in a better state."

8. It is owing to the want of this discovery, O ye
pretended sons of reason, that thinking yourselves born
pure* or supposing the disease of your nature to be in-
considerable, you imagine it possible to be your own
physicians, when you are only your own destroyers.
Hence it is, that while you give to Jesus the titular ho-
nour of Saviour, you speak perpetually of being " saved
merely by your duties and best endeavours." Here
him warning you against this common delusion ; O
Israel, says he, thou hast destroyed thyself, but in Me
is thy help found. The whole need not a physician,
but they that are sick, beyond all hopes of recovering
themselves.

9. The prescriptions of this wise physician, are
excessively severe to fiesh and blood, and some of his
remedies as violent as our disease. Therefore, ex-
cept we see the greatness of our danger, we shall beg
to be excused from taking the bitter potion. Who
can have resolution enough to cut off a right hand, to
pluck out a right eye, to take up his cross daily, to deny
himself, and lose even his own life, or what is often
dearer, his fair reputation ?....Who, I say, can do this,

* Initium est salutis notitia peccati, nam qui peccare se nescit
eorrigi non vult : Deprehendas te opportet antequam emendes.
Sen. Ep. xxviii...Et hoc ipsum argumentum esc in melius translati
animi, quod vitia sua, qu* adbuc ignorabat, videt. Ep. vi»

166 AN APPEAL, Vc. Part V.

till a sight of imminent ruin on the one hand, and of
redeeming love on the other, makes him submit to the
painful injunctions ? Thou lovely youth, noted in the
gospel for thy harmlessness, I appeal to thy wretched
experience. When the physician of souls, at whose
feet thou wast prostrate, commanded thee to sell all
and follow him, what made thee go away sorrowful
and undone ? Not barely thy great possessions, but the
ignorance of thy condition : For all that a man hath
will he give for his life, when he sees it in immediate
danger, Matt. xix. 22.

10. If it is a desperate step to turn away from the
Prince of life, it is a daring one to approach him with
a mere compliment. Of this nevertheless you are
guilty, ye unawakened tinners, who daily appear be-
fore the throne of grace, with thanks and praises to
God, for his inestimable love in the redemption of the
world by our Lord Jesus Christ. Alas ! When you
deny the state of sin and misery, in which you are by
nature, and yet presume to thank God for redemption
from it, do you not mock him as solemnly as you
would the king, were you to present him every day an
address of thanks, for redeeming you from Turkish
slavery, when you never knew yourselves slaves in
Turkey ? O how provoking to God must these un-
meaning thanksgivings be ! Surely one day they will
be ranked among the indignities, offered by earthly-
Worms to the Majesty on high.

1 1. Some indeed, more consistent than you, openly
throw off the mask. Seeing neither the unfathomable
depth of their misery by the fall, nor the immense
height of their aggravated iniquities, they do not trifle
with, but at once deny the Lord that bought them.
Yes, far from admiring the established method of a
salvation, procured at so immense a price, as the in-
carnation and crucifixion of the Son of God, they -are
not afraid to intimate it is irrational : and upon -their
principle they may well do it ; for if our ruin is not
immense, what need is there for an immensely glori-

f art V. AN APPEAL, ©V. 16?

ous Redeemer ] And if our guilt reaches not up to
heaven, why should the Son of God have come down
from thence, to put away sin by the sacrifice of him-
self?

12. As we slight or reject the Saviour, till we are
truly convinced of the evil and danger of sin ; so we
worship a false God, a mere idol. For instead of
adoring Jehovah, infinite in his holiness and hatred of
sin, inviolable in the truth of his threatenings against
it, and impartial in his strict justice., .a God in whose
presence unhumbled sinners are not able to stand, and
with whom evil cannot dwell ; we bow to a strange
God, whom pious men never knew. ...a God formed by
our own fancy, so unholy as to connive at sin, so un-
just as to set aside his most righteous law, and so false
as to break his solemn word, that we must turn or die,
Ez. xxxiii. 11. Is not this worshipping a God of our
own making; or as David describes him, a God alto-
gether such as ourselves ? To adore an idol of paste,
made by the baker and the priest, may be indeed more
foolish, but cannot be more wicked, than to adore one
made by our wild imagination, and impious unbelief.

13. We may go one step farther still and affirm
that till we are deeply convinced of sin, far from wor-
shipping the true God [which implies knowing, lov-
ing and admiring him in all his perfections] we hate
and oppose him in his infinite holiness and justice.
The proof is obvious : Two things diametrically op-
posite in their nature, can never be approved of at once.
If we do not side with divine holiness and justice, ab-
hor our corruption, and condemn ourselves as hell-de-
serving sinners ; far from approving, we shall rise
against the holy and righteous God, who sentences
us to eternal death for our sin : We shall at least wish
he were less pure and just than he is ; which amounts
to wishing him t6 be no God. While proud fiends
betray this horrid disposition, by loud blasphemies in
hell ; ye do it, O ye unconvinced sons of men, by
your aversion to godliness upon earth. Haters of Goii

US AN APPEAL, &c. Part V.

is then the proper name, and enmity against him, the
settled temper of all unhumbled, unconverted sinners.
Rom. i. 30, and viii. 7.

14. When the nature of God is mistaken, what
wonder if his law is misapprehended? The law is
good, Says St. Paul, if a man use it lawfully ; but if
we make an improper use of it, the consequence is
fatal. Since the fall, the law of God, as contra-distin-
guished from the gospel of Christ, points out to us
the spotless holiness, and inflexible justice of its di-
vine Author. It teaches us with what ardour and con-
stancy we should love both our Creator and our fellow-
creatures. As a bank cast against the stream of
our iniquity, it accidentally serves to make it rise the
higher, and to discover its impetuosity ; for by the law
is the knowledge of sin. It demonstrates man's weak-
ness, who consents indeed to the law that it is gcod,
but finds not how to fulfil it, Rom. vii. 16, 19. As
a battery erected against our pride, when it has its due
effect, it silences all our self-righteous pleas, and con-
vinces us that a returning sinner is not justified by
the works of the law, but by the faith of Christ : a
broken law, a law which worketh wrath, being abso-
lutely unable to absolve its violator.... In a word, it is
our school-master to bring us to Christ, and drives us
with the rod of threatened punishments, to make us
touch the sceptre of mercy, held out to us from the
throne of grace.

But, while we remain strangers to our helpless and
hopeless state by nature, far from making this proper
use of the law, we trust in it and fancy that the me-
rit of bur unsprinkled obedience to it is the way of
salvation. Thus we go about to establish our own
righteousness, making light of the atoning blood, which
marks the new and living way to heaven. This very-
mistake ruined the pharisees of old, and destroys
their numerous followers in all ages. Rem. ix. 31.

15. And when we fo;m such wronj . •: prehensions
of the law, is it possible that we ■ have right

Part V. AN APPEAL, IXe. 1<&

yiews of the gospel, and receive it with cordial affec-
tion ? Reason and experience answer in the negative.
What says the gospel to sinners ? You are saved by
grace, through mere favour and mercy, not by the
covenant of works, lest any man should boast like the
pharisee. Eph. ii. 8. Now, ye decent formalists,
ye fond admirers of your own virtue, are you not
utterly disqualified to seek and accept a pardon in a
gospel way ? For your seeking it upon the footing of
mere mercy, implies an acknowledgment, that you
deserve the ruin threatened against sinners. And sup-
pose a pardon were granted you, before you had a con-
sciousness of your sad deserts, you could not receive
it as an act of mere grace, but only as a reward justly
bestowed upon you for the merit of your works. It
is plain then, that according to the gospel plan, none
can be fit subjects of salvation, but those who are truly
sensible of their condemnation.

16. But as the grace of God in Christ, is the
original and properly meritorious cause of our salva-
tion : So the grand instrumental cause of it is faith on
our part. Through faith are ye saved, says St. Paul.
Now if to have faith in Christ, is habitually to lift up
our hearts to him, with an humble and yet cheerful
confidence, seeking in him all our wisdom, righteous-
ness, and strength, as being our instructing prophet,
atoning priest, and protecting king; it is evident that
till we awake to a sight of our fallen state, we cannot
believe, nor consequently be saved. O ye that never
were sensible of your spiritual blindness, can you with
sincerity take Jesus for your guide, and desire his Spi-
rit to lead you into all truth ? Dots not David's prayer,
" Open thou mine eyes, that I may see the wonderful
things of thy law ;" appear to you needless, if net f.-.na-
ticui ? And is not the Pvedeemer'3 prophetic office
thrown away upon such" sons of wisdom as you are?

Have you a greater value for Jesus than they. O ve
just men: who have no sensible need of heart-feft
repentance, and whose breasts were never diluted 'or

T

iro AN APPEAL, bfc. Part V.

one sigh, under a due sense of your guilt and con-
demnation ? Can you, without hypocrisy, apply to
him as the High Priest of the guilty, claim him as
the advocate of the condemned, or fly to him as the Sa-
viour of the lost ? Impossible ! Ye fondly hope ye ne-
ver were lost, ye were always « good livers, good be-
lievers, good churchmen ;" ye " need not make so
much ado" about an interest in the blood of the new
covenant.

And ye, who flushed with the conceit of your na-
tive strength, wonder at the weakeness of those, that
continually bow to the sceptre of Jesus's grace for pro-
tection and power; can you without a smile of pity
hear him say "Without me ye can do nothing." Is
it possible that you should sincerely implore the ex-
ertion of his royal power, for victory over sins, which
you suppose yourselves able to conquer : and for the
restoration of a nature, with the goodness of which
you are already so well satisfied ? Your reason loudly
answers, No : Therefore, till you see yourselves
corrupt, impotent creatures, you will openly neglect
the Redeemer, give to your aggravated sins the name
of" human frailties," and trust to your bafiled, and yet
boasted endeavours. Self-deception ! Art thou not of
all impostorsthe most common and dangerous, because
the least suspected ?

To sum up and close these important remarks :
Look at those who, in mystic Babylon, are not truly
sensible of their total fall from God, and you will see
them setting their own reason above the holy scrip-
tures ; and their works in competition with the infi-
nitely meritorious sacrifice of Christ. Inquire into
their principles, and you will discover that they either
openly explode as enthusiastical, or slightly receive
as unnecessary, the doctrines of salvation 'by faith in
Christ, and regeneration by the Spirit of God. Ex-
amine their conduct, and you will find they all com-
mit sin, and receive the mark of the beast secretly in

Part V. AN APPEAL, Wc. 171

their right hand, or openly in their foreheads. Rev.
xiii. 16. Sort them and you will have two bands, the
oife of sceptics and the other of formalists, who, though
at as great enmity between themselves, as Pilate and
Herod, are like them made friends together by jointly
deriding and condemning Jesus in his living members.

And if with the candle of the Lord you search the
Jerusalem of professing christians, you will perceive
that the want of an heart-felt humbling knowledge of
their natural depravity, gives birth to the double-mind-
edness of hypocrites, and the miscarriages or apostacy
of those, who once distinguished themselves in the
evangelical race : You will easily trace back to the same
corrupt source, the seemingly opposite errors of the
loose antinomian, and the pharisaic legalist, those
spiritual thieves, by whom the sincere christian is per-
petually reviled : and in short, you will be convinced,
that if you set your eyes upon a man, who is not yet
deeply conscious of his corrupt and lost estate, or
whose consciousness of it has worn away, you behold
either a trifler in religion, a dead-hearted pharisee, a
sly hypocrite, a loose antinomian, a self-conceited for-
malist, a scoffing infidel, or a wretched apostate.

You see, reader, what a train of fatal consequences
result from rejecting, oi* not properly receiving, the
doctrine demonstrated in these sheets ; and now that
you may cordially embrace it, permit me to enumerate
the

UNSPEAKABLE ADVANTAGES

Springing from an affecting knowledge of our fallen and
lost estate.

No sooner is the disease rightly known, than the
neglected Jesus, who is both our gracious physician
and powerful remedy, is properly valued, and ardently
sought; All- that thus seek, find; and all that find
him, find saving health, eternal life, and heaven.

172 AN APPEAL, We . Part V.

Bear your testimony with me, ye children of Abra-
ham and of God, who see the brightness of a gospel day
and rejoice. Say, What made you first wishfully look
to the hills, whence your salvation is come, and fer-
vently desire to behold the sin-dispelling beams of the
Sun of Righteousness ? Was it not the deep, dismal
night of our fallen nature, which you happily discover-
ed, when awaking from the sleep of sin, you first saw
the delusive dreams of life, as they appear to the dying ?
What was the desire of nations to you till you felt your-
selves lost sinners ? Alas ! Nothing: Perhaps less
than nothing; an object of disgust or scorn. When
the pearl of great price was presented to you, did you
regard it more, than the vilest of brutes, an oriental
pearl ? And, as if it had not been enough to look at it
with disdain, were not some of you ready to turn again
and rend, after the example of snarling animals, these
who affectionately made you the invaluable offer ?
Matt. vii. 6.

But when the storm that shook mount Sinai, over-
took your careless souls, and ye saw yourselves sinking
into an abyss of misery ; did ye not cry out, and say
as the alarmed disciples, with an unknown energy of
desire, Save Lord or we perish ? And when conscious
of your lost estate, ye began to believe, that he came
to seek and to save that which was lost ; how dear,
how precious was he to you in all his offices ? How
glad were you to take guilty, weeping Magdalen's
place, and wait for a pardon at your High Priest's
feet ? How importunate in saying to your king, as the
helpless widow ; Lord, avenge me of mine adversary,
my evil heart of unbelief 1 How earnest, hoAv unwea-
ried in your applications to your prophet, for heavenly
light and wisdom ! The incessant prayer of blind Bar-
tirceus was then yours, and so was the gracious answer
which the Lord returned to him : You received your
Spiritual sight. And Oh! what saw you then ? The
sacred bock unsealed ! Your sins blotted out as a
cloud ! The glory of God shining in the face of Jesus

PartV. AN APPEAL,**. . 173

Christ ; and " the kingdom of heaven opened to all
believers I"

Then, and not till then, you could say from the
heart, This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all ac-
ceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners, of whom I am the chief, 1 Tim. i. 15.
Then you could cry out with his first disciples : " Be-
hold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed
upon us, that we should be called the sons of God !
1 John iii. 1. We are all the children of God by faith
in Christ Jesus, whom having not seen we love ; in
whom, though now we see him not, yet believing, we
rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving
the end of our faith, the salvation of our souls. Gal.
iii. 26. 1 Pet. i. 8. We trusted in him and are helped :
Therefore our heart danceth for joy, and in our song
will we praise him. Psal. xxviii. 8. To him that
hath loved us, and washed us, from our sins in his own
blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God
and his Father ; to him be glory and dominion for
ever and ever. Rev. i. 5.

And this will also be your triumphant song, atten-
tive reader, if deeply conscious of your lost estate, you
spread your guilt and misery before him, who came to
bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the
captives, and the opening of the prison to them that
are bound ; and to comfort all that mourn, by giving
them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and
the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Isa.
Ixi. 1 . Your sorrow it is true may endure for a night,
but joy will come in the morning, the joy of God's sal-
vation, and the pardon of your sins. Having much
forgiven you, you will then love much and admire in
proportion the riches of divine wisdom, goodness, jus-
tice, and power, that so graciously contrived, and so
wonderfully executed the plan of your redemption. You
will be ravished in experiencing, that a condemned sin-
ner can, not only escape impending ruin, but enter into
present possession of a spiritual paradise, where peace
p 2

174 AN APPEAL, fcfr. Part V.

and joy blossom together, and whence welcome death,
will ere long, translate your triumphant soul to those
unseen, unheard-of, inconceivable glories, which God
hath prepared for them that love him. 1 Cor. ii. 9.

Nor will the blossoms of heavenly peace and joy,
only diffuse their divine fragrancy in your soul ; all the
fruits of holiness will grow together with them, to the
glory of God, and the profit of mankind. And thou
wilt not be the last, thou fair, thou blushing humility,
to bend all the spreading branches of pride to the tree of
righteousness. No, we cannot be vain, or despisers of
others, when we see that we are all corrupted, dying
shoots of the same corrupted, dead stock : We cannot
be self-righteous, when we are pursuaded, that the
best fruit which we can naturally produce is only
splendid sin, or vice coloured over with the specious
appearance of virtue : We must lie prostrate in the
dust, when we consider the ignominious cross, where
our divine Surety hung, bled, and died to ransom our
guilty souls.

A genuine conviction of our corruption and demerit
thus striking at the very root of our pride, necessarily
fills our hearts with inexpressible gratitude for every fa-
vour we receive, gives an exquisite relish to the least
blessing we enjoy, and teaches us to say with the
thankful patriarch, I am not worthy of the least of all thy
mercies : and as it renders us grateful to God, and all
our benefactors, so it mtikes us patient under the greatest
injuries, resigned in the heaviest trials, glad to be re-
proved, willing to forgive the faults of others, open to ac-
knowledge cur own, disposed to sympathise with the
guilty ; tenaer-hearted towards the miserable, incapa-
ble of being offended at any one, and ready to do every
office of kindness, even to the meanest of mankind.

Again, no sooner are we properly acquainted with
our helplessness, than we give over leaning on an arm
of flesh, and the broken reed of our own resolutions.
Pvepciing our entire confidence in the living God,
v.e fervently implore his continual assistance, carefully

PartV. AN APPEAL, life. it*

avoid temptations, gladly acknowledge, that the help
which is done upon the earth, the Lord doth it himself,
and humbly give him the glory of all the good that ap-
pears in ourselves and others.

Once more, as soon as we can discover our spiritual
blindness, we mistrust our own judgment, feel the need
of instruction, modestly repair to the experienced for
advice, carefully search the scriptures, readily follow
their blessed directions, and fervently pray, that no
false light may mislead us out of the way of salvation.

To conclude : a right knowledge, that the crown is
fallen from our head, will make us abominate sin, the
cause of our ruin, and raise in us a noble ambition of re-
gaining our original state of blisful and glorious righ-
teousness. It will set us upon an earnest inquiry into,
and a proper use of, all the means conducive to our re-
covery. Even the sense of our guilt will prove useful,
by helping to break our obdurate hearts, by imbittering
the baits of worldly vanities, and filling our souls with
penitential sorrow. Before honour is humility. This
happy humiliation makes way for the greatest exalta-
tion : For thus saith the high and lofty One, that inha-
bited eternity. I dwell in the high and holy place,
with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to
revive the spirit of the humble, and the heart of the
contrite, to fill the hungry with good things, and beau-
tify the meek with salvation. Isaiah Ivii. 15.

If' these advantages, which exceed the worth of
earthly crowns, necessarily result from the proper
knowledge of our corrupt and lost estate ; who but an
infatuated enemy of his own soul, would be afraid of
that self-science ? Who but an obstinate pharisee, would
not esteem it next to the knowledge of Christ, the
greatest blessing which heaven can 'bestow upon the
self-destroyed, and yet self-conceited children of
men?

•Careless reader, if thou art the person, if remaining
unshaken in thy carnal confidence, and supposing thy-
self wiser than seven men that can render a reason,

176 AN APPEAL, &c. Part V.

thou not only despisest the testimony of the sacred
writers and our pious reformers, laid before thee in the
first part of this treatise, but disregardest the nume-
rous arguments it contains, tramplest under foot both
matter of fact and common sense, and remainest unaf-
fected by the most dreadful consequences of self-
ignorance on the one hand, and by the greatest advan-
tages of self-knowledge on the other ; I have done, and
must take my leave of thee.

May the merciful and holy God, whose laws thou
dost daily violate, whose word thou hourly opposest or
forgettest, whose salvation thou dost every moment
neglect, whose vengeance thou continually provokest,
and whose cause I have attempted to plead, bear with
thee and thy insults a little longer!.... May his infinite
patience yet afford thee some means of conviction,
more affectual than that which is at present in thy
hands !....Or shouldest thou look into this labour of love
once more, may it then answer a better purpose than
to aggravate thy guilt, and enhance thy condemnation,
by rendering the folly of thy unbelief more glaring,
and consequently more inexcusable !

END OF THE APPEAL.

A CONCLUDING

ADDRESS

TO

THE SERIOUS READER,

WHO ENQUIRES

WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED ?

" Is there no balm in Gilead ? Is there no Physician there ? Why
then is not t
jER.viii. 22-

CONTENTS.

OF THE

ADDRESS.

I. Reflections on the nature and depth of penitential
Borrow.

II. Directions proper for an half-awakened sinner,
who desires to be truly convinced cf his guilt and
danger.

III. Cax'tions against many false ways of healing a
conscience wounded by sin.

IV. The evangelical method of a sound cure.

V. A scriptural testimony of God's children concerning
the excellency of this method.

VI. Scriptural invitations and exhortations, to encou-
rage a desponding penitent to try this never failing
method. And,

VII. The happy effects of such a trial.

AN

ADDRESS

TO

THE SERIOUS READER, ifc.

HAVING taken my leave of the thoughtless
and gay, who regard an appeal to their reason, as lit-
tle as they do the warnings of their conscience ; I re-
turn to thee, * serious and well-disposed reader. I am
two much concerned for thy soul's welfare, to lay
down my pen, without shewing thee more perfectly
the way to the kingdom of heaven, by testifying to thee,
repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus
Christ.

Thou art happily weary of feeding upon the husks
of earthly vanities. I have a right therefore, as a

* This address is only calculated for serious persons, who cor-
dially assent to the doctrine established in the rational, demon-
stration of our fallen and lost estate. As other readers have been
dismissed with the portion of truth that belongs to them, they
are desired not to meddle with this, lest their cavils confirm St.
Paul's observation. We preach Christ crucified to the self-righte-
ous jews a stumbling block, and to the self-conceited greeks fool-
ishness.

182 AN ADDRESS TO EARNEST

steward of the mysteries of God, to bring out of the di-
vine treasury, the pearls of evangelical truth ; and I
gladly cast them before thee, persuaded, that far from
awakening thy anger, they will excite thy desires, and
animate thy languid hopes.

Instead of ridiculing, or dreading an heart -felt convic-
tion of thy lost estate, thou now seest it is a desirable
privilege, an invaluable blessing. Ready to mourn, be-
cause thou canst not mourn, thou complainest, that thou
hast only a confused view of thy toted depravity.
Thou wantest the feelings of the royal penitent, when
he said, Behold I was shapen in iniquity, Sec. I ac-
knowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever before
me ; but conscious thou canst not raise them in thy
heart by natural powers, thou desirest some scriptural
directions suitable to thy case. Give me leave to intro-
duce them by a few

*

PRELIMINARY REFLECTIONS

Cn the nature and depth of penitential sorrow.

I. Thou knowest, that except thou truly repentest,
thou shalt surely perish, and that there is no true re-
pentance, where there is not true sorrow for sin. I re-
joice, says St. Paul to the Corinthians, that ye were
made sorry after a godly manner ; For godly sorrow
worketh repentance to salvation, not to be repented of;
but the sorrow of the world worketh death. Hence it
appears, that there are two sorts of sorrow springing
from opposite sources; God and the world ; the one a
godly sorrow, and the other the sorrow of the world.
Learn then to distinguish them by their various causes
and effects, so shalt thou avoid the danger of mistaking
the one for the other.

The sorrow of the world, which many cover with
the cloak of religion, arises from fear of contempt, dread
of poverty, secret jealousy, 'revenge dissatisfied, love
disappointed, burned schemes, loses in business, un-

SEEKERS FOR SALVATION. 1S3

kindness of friends, provocation of enemies, or the
death of some idolized relative. Nay, this sorrow may
sometimes spring from a mixture of self-righteous pride
and slavish fear. Some cannot bear to be robbed ot
their fond hopes of meriting heaven by their imaginary
good works : They lose all patience, when they see
their best righteousness brought to light, and exposed
as filthy rags : They are cut to the heart, when they
hear, that their apparent good deeds deserve punish-
ment as well as their black enormities: Or like con-
demned malefactors, they dread the consequences of
their crimes, while they feel little or no horror for the
crimes themselves.

Exceedingly fatal are the effects of this sorrow in
the persons whom it overcomes : Their indignant
hearts, unable to bear either disappointment, contradic-
tion or condemnation, rise against second causes, or
against the decrees of Providence; fret at the strictness
of the law, or holiness of the Lawgiver ; and pine away
with uninterrupted discontent. Hence, spurning at ad-
vice, direction, and consolation, they wring their hands,
or gnaw their tongues with anguish ; impatience works
them up into stupid sullenness or noisy murmuring ;
they complain, that their punishment is greater than
they can bear ; and, imagining they are more severely
dealt with than others, they hastily conclude, Behold-,
this evil is from the Lord, why should I wait for him
any longer? Thus black despair seizes upon their spi-
rits, and if grace does not interpose, they either live on.
to fill up the measure of their iniquities, as Cain, Pha-
roah and Ham an, or madly lay violent hands upon them-
selves, as Ahitophel, and Judas.

This sorrow cannot be too much guarded against,
as it not only destroys many persons, but docs immense
hurt to religion. For those who are glad of any pre-
tence to pour contempt upon godliness, taking occasion
from the instances of this sorrow, harden their own
hearts, and prejudice all around them against the bless-
ed, godly sorrow, which every minister of the gospel

184 AN ADDRESS TO EARNEST

endeavours to excite ; maliciously representing it as
cne and the same with the mi-.ckievous sorrow of the
world.

Their mistake will be evident, if we trace godly
sorrow back to its source. It does net spring merely
f-om fear of punishment ; but chiefly from humbling
views of God's holiness, the impurity of the human na-
ture, the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and the trans-
cendant excellency of the law, which condemns the
•inner.

And this happy sorrow differs not less from the
other in its effects, than it does in its cause. The per-
sons who are blessed with it, far from murmuring, or
fretting- at the divine commandment, see it to be holy,
just, and good, both in its preceptive and penal p^rt.
They so absolutely acquiesce in it, that they would net
alter it, if they could. They clear God, accuse
themselves, subscribe their own sentence, and acknow-
ledge, It is of the Lord's mercies, that we are not con-
sumed. Each of them can say " Wherefore should a
living man complain, a man for the punishment of sins?
It is good that he should both hope, and quietly wait
for God's salvation: I v, ill therefore watch to see what
he will say unto me, for he will speak peace unto his
people." Thus in a constant use of all the ordinances of
Cod, they meekly wait, wrestling with their unbelieving
fears, till victorious faith comes by hearing of the
matchless love of Jesus Christ ; and then, fearing the
Lo"d and his goodness, they sing the song of the
Lamb, and run upon his delightful errands.

As thou seest, serious reader, the nature, necessity,
and excellence of godly sorrow, thou art probably de-
sirous of being informed, how deep thine must be,
to constitute thee a trae penitent. Know then, that it
must be deep enough to imbitter thy most pleasing,
profitable, and habitual sins, and to prevent thy resting
without a clear sense of thy peculiar interest in
Christ. ...It must be profound enough to make him and
his gospel infinitely precious to thee, and to produce,

SEEKERS FOR SALVATION. 185

tinder God, the blessed effects mentioned in the (alii
part of the preceding treatise.

To be more particular, a true penitent may cer-
tainly without despair or madness, go as far in godly
sorrow, as David does in his penitential psalms, or our
church in the first part of the homily on fasting*. " When
" good men,, says she, feel in themselves the heavy
« burden of sin, see damnation to be the reward of it,
" and behold with the eye of their mind the horrorof hell,
" they tremble, they quake, they are inwardly touched
" with sorrowfulness of hearts for their offences, and
" cannot but accuse themselves, and open their grief
" unto Almighty God, and call on him for mercy.
" This being done seriously, their mind is so occupied,
" partly with sorrow and heaviness, partly with an ear-
" nest desire to be delivered from this danger of hell
" and damnation, that all desire of meat and drink is
" laid aside, and loathing of all worldly things and
" pleasures comes in place, so that they like no-
u thing better than to weep, to lament, to mourn, and
" both with words and behaviour of body, to shew
" themselves weary of this life."

Nevertheless it must be observed, that godly
sorrow needs not be equal, either in degree or du-
ration, in all penitents. Those, whose hearts, through
divine grace open as readily and gently as that of
Lydia, happily avoid many of David's pangs and
Job's terrors. The powerful and instantaneous, or
the gentle and gradual manner, in which souls are
awakened ; the difference of constitutions ; the pe-
culiar services that a few are called to, and for
which they are prepared by peculiar exercises; the
horrid aggravations that have attended the sins of
som? ; and the severe correction, which the Lord
is obliged to give others, for their stout resistance
against his grace. ...all this may help us to account
for the various depths of distress, throu.gh which
different penitents pass in their way to Christ and sal-
vation.

Q %

136 AN ADDRESS TO EARNEST

The Lord does not needlessly amict the chil-
dren of men, any more than a tender father, un-
necessarily corrects his disobedient children: He
only wants us to forsake our sins, renounce our own
imaginary righteousness, and come to Christ to be
made partakers of his merits, holiness and felicity.
The sorrow which answers these ends, is quite
sufficient; though it should be ever so light, and
of ever so short a duration. On the contrary, a
distress as heavy as that of Judas is unavailable, if in-
stead of driving us from sin to Jesus Christ, it only
drives us from prophaneness to hypocrisy, or from pre-
sumption to despair.

If still perplexed, thou askest what thou must do,
to get a sense of thy depravity, productive of true re-
pentance ; I answer, that an affecting discovery of the
guilt, nature, and danger, of sin, is only attained by the
assistance of God's Spirit, who alone effectually con-
vinces the world of sin. John xvi. 8. But the Lord
lias graciously appointed means, in the right use of
which he never denies a sinner the convincing and
converting power of his blessed Spirit : and what they
we thou ail informed in the following

DIRECTIONS,

T'rofier for an kalf-aivckcned sinner; desirous of being
Cu'y convinced of his corrupt and lost estate.

II. Beware of fools, that make a mock at sorrow
■for sin, and at sin itself. Beware of those blind lea-
ders of the blind, who having a form of gcdliness, de-
ny the power thereof : Instead of pointing thee to the
thrcni of grace, bidding thee behold the Lamb cf God,
that taketh away the sin of the world, they will net only
dir ctthee to the church-walls and communion-table ;
an:i perhaps, if they see thee under dejection of spirit
tor thy sios, they will recommend the play-house, the
card-tible, oc what they call w a cheerful glass.1' From

SEEKERS FOR SALVATION. 187

such turn away, or they will persuade thee that re-
pentance is melancholy ; conviction of sin, despair ;
and the love God, enthusiasm, 2 Tim. iii. 5

That they may not be able to laugh, or frown thee
out of the way of salvation, dwell in thy thoughts on
God's awful perfections. Justice and judgment are
the habitation of his throne. The unspotted, resplen-
dent holiness beaming forth from him, as from an im-
mensely glorious Sun of righteousness; will shew thee
thy sins as innumerable as the flying motes discovered
in a dusty room, where the natural sun can penetrate.
Consider that they are committed by a worm of earth,
against the majesf.y of heaven ; and they will all ap-
pear to thee infinitely great : especially if thou mea-
sures! them and thyself by the true rule, the oracles of
God ; casting away the three false standards which
seif-deceivers measure themselves by, namely, the
good opinion of their worldly minded neighbours, the
defective examples of their ieliow-sinners, and the flat-
tering suggestions of their own blind self-love.

Follow the example of the noble Bereans : search
the scriptures daily, whether these things are so, Acts
xvii. 1 1 . View in that faithful mirror, the picture both
of the natural and of the regenerate man, and ask thy
conscience which thou resemblest most. If, imitating
the godly man described in the first psalm, thou me*
ditatest in the law of the Lord day and night ; the
sraitness of the heavenly rule, will soon shew thee
how very far gone thy thoughts, words, actions, tem-
pers, and nature, are from original righteousness.

To this meditation, add a frequent survey of the
follies of thy childhood, the vanity of thy youth, the
worldiy-mindedness of thy riper years, the capital
transgressions which conscience accuses thee of, and
the heardnesss of heart, and alienation from the life of
that the scriptures charge thee with. Ccnfess
ail to the Lord as thou art able, remembering that the
s of sin is death, who flies f<.st upon thee with the
wings of time.... Death, who often gives no warning

188 AN ADDRESS TO EARNEST

and ushers in judgment, with all the horrors of hell,
or the joys of heaven ; and pray that these awful re-
alities may affect thee now, as they will in thy last mo-
ments.

Frequently reflect, how total must be our loss of
spiritual life, which cannot be repaired but by a resur-
rection, a new-birth, or a new creation, Col. iii. 1.
John iii. 7. Gal. vi. 5. and how desperate the disease
of our fallen nature, which cannot be healed but with
the blood of a divine physician. Consider, attentively
consider him, whose piercing- look softened the obdu-
rate heart of cursing Peter, whose amazing sufferings
brought an hardened thief under the deepest concern
for his salvation, and whose dying groans rent the
rocks, shook the earth, and opened the graves. The
tender flower of evangelical sorrow grows best in the
shade of his cross : A believing view of him as suffer-
ing for thee, will melt thee into penitential tears, and
seal upon thy relenting heart the gracious promise,
They shall look upon him, whom they have pierced,
and mourn. Zech. xii. 10.

In <he mean time improve the daily opportunities
which thou hast of studying human corruption in the
life and tempers of all around thee, but chiefly in thy
own careless and deceitful heart : Take notice of its
pride and self-seeking, of its risings and secret work-
ings, especially when unexpected temptations trouble
thy imaginary peace of mind : For, at such a time,
thy corruption, like the sediment in the bottom of a
vial that is shaken, will shew its loathsomeness and
strength.

Converse frequently, if thou canst, with persons
deeply convinced of sin. Attend a plain, heart-search-
ing ministry as often as possible ; and when the sword
of the Spirit, the word of God, pierces thy soul, be-
ware of fretful impatience. Instead of rising with in-
dignation against the preacher, and saying, as proud
Ahab did to the man of God, Hast thou found me, O
mine enemy ? account him thy best friend, that wounds

SEEKERS FOR SALVATION. 189

thee deepest, provided he brings thee to Christ for a
cure : and when the arrows of the word fly abroad,
drop the shield of unbelief, make bare thy breast, wel-
come the blessed shaft, and remember, that the only
way of conquering sin, is to fall wounded and helpless
at the Redeemer's feet.

Nevertheless, the impressions of the word will soon
wear off, if thou dost not importunately intreat the
Searcher of hearts, to light the candle of his grace in
thy soul, that thou mayest clearly see whether thy in-
ward parts are holiness to the Lord as thou fondly sup*-
posedst ; or very wickedness, as the scripture testifies.
It is only in God's light, that we can clearly discover
our blindness.

This light, it is true, shineth in darkness, but fre-
quently the darkness comprehendeth it not. That this
be not thy dreadful case, do net grieve and quench the
convincing Spirit, by persisting in the wilful omission
of any duty, or deliberate commission of any sin : No-
thing but obstinate unbelief darkens the mind, and har-
dens the heart, more than this. Therefore instead of
burying thy one talent with the slothful servant, ear-
nestly pray the Lord to make thee faithful to thy con-
victions, and to deepen them daily till they end in a
sound conversion.

In order to this, do not slightly heal the wound in
thy conscience : It is better to keep it open than to skin
it over by improper means : Many, through a natural
forwardness and impatience, have recourse to them ;
and ruin is the consequence of their mistake. That
thou mayest avoid it, serious reader, I entreat thee t©
pay a due regard to the following

CAUTIONS,

Proper for a penitent, nvho desires to make his calling
and election sure.

III. When thou hast affecting views of thy lost
estate, beware of resting like Felix in some pangs of

190 AN ADDRESS TO EARNEST

fear, fits of trembling, and resolutions of turning to God
by and by, when thou shalt have a convenient season.
Neither give place to desponding thoughts, as if there
was no appeal from the tribunal of Justice to the throne
of grace.

Run not for ease to vain company, bodily indul-
gence, entangling affections, immoderate sleep, exces-
sive drinking or hurry of business. Cain built a city
to divert his trouble of mind ; and multitudes like him,
by the cares of this world, the deceitfulness or riches,
or the desire of other things, daily choak the good
seed, the precious word of conviction. Mark iv. 19.

Be not satisfied with faint desires of living the
life of the righteous, or idle wishes of dying their
death. Remember that the desire of the slothful
kills him ; and thou hast experienced some drawings
of grace, meltings of heart, or breathings after God ;
sit not down at last, as the Laocliceans, in a careless
state, neither hot nor cold. It is far better to go on thy
way weeping, and seeking the pearl of great price till
thou really find it, than to rest contented with an hasty
conceit that thou art possessed of it, when thou art
not.

Stop not in an outward reformation, and a form of
godliness, like many, who mistake the means or doc-
trine of grace, for grace itself; and because they say
their heartless prayers both in public and private, or go
far and often to hear the gospel preached in its purity,
fondly hope, that they are the favourites of God, and in
the highway to heaven.

Under pretence of increasin g thy convictions, do
not bury them in heaps of religious books. Some read
till their heads are confused, or their hearts past feel-
ing. Thus, though ever learning, they are never able
to come to the knowledge of the truth. Hear then, as
well as read the word of life ; but think not thyself
converted when thou hast received it with joy : The
stony-ground hearers went as far as this : Herod him-
self heard John gladly, honoured him, did many

SEEKERS FOR SALVATION. 191

things, but left the most important undone ; for he ne»
ver dismissed the incestuous woman he lived with ;r
and at last sacrificed to her revenge, the honest preacher
he once admired.

Do not confound the covenant of works made with
innocent Adam before the fall, and the covenant of
grace made with sinfukAdam after the fall. Gen. ii.
17. and iii. 15. and Rom. v. 1 1 21. They are ex-
cellent in their place, but when they are mixed tog-e-
ther, they destroy each other's efficacy. The dread-
ful thunders, heard in paradise lost ; and the melodious
.songs uttered in paradise regained, do not strike at
once the spiritual ear. The galling yoke of the law
gi works, and the heavy load of its condemnation are
dropt, when we take upon us Christ's easy yoke, and
submit to his light burden. la a word, the first Adam
gives place to the second when we find rest unto our
souls. Let then the curse of the law of innocence,
be swallowed by the blessing of the gospel : or rather,
let it make way for the grace of Christ in thy soul, as
an emetic makes way for a cordial in a disordered sto-
mach. If thou take.;;t them together, their respective
use is prevented. The first covenant loses its hum-
bling efficacy, and the second its restorative power.
Therefore, if thou hast really received the sentence of
death in thyself; leave the curse of the first cove-
nant in the grave of Christ, crucified for thy sins ; and
welcome the pardoning, renovating grace of Christ ;
risen again for thy justification.

On the other hand, rest not contented with specu-
lative knowledge, and unaffecting, though clear idea3
of the gospel-way of salvation. Light in an unrenew-
ed understanding, mistaken for-the mystery of faith in
a pure heart, like an ignis-fatuus, or false light, leads
thousands through the begs of sin, into the pit of des-
truction. Acts viii. 13.

Pacify not thy conscience by activity in outward
service.;, and a warmth in God's cause ; Party spirit
or natural steadiness in carrying on a favourite scheme,

lot AX ADDRESS TO EARNEST

yea, or seeking thy own glory, may be the springs,
that set thee on work. Jehu, faithfully destroyed Baal
and Jezebel, but his zeal for the Lord covered the se-
cret desire of a crown. Take care also, not to mistake
gifts for graces ; fluency of speech for converting
power ; the warmth of natural affection for divine
love ; or an impulse of God's Spirit, on some particu-
lar occasion, for an evidence of spiritual regeneration.
Balaam spoke and prophesied like a child of God, and
many will one day say to Christ, Lord, have we not
prophesied, spoke all mysteries, cast out devils, and
done many wonderful works in thy name '; to whom
he will answer, Depart from me, I know you not.

Avoid the self-conceit of many, who feed on the
corrupted manna of their past experiences, and con-
fidently appeal to the wasted streams of those conso-
lations, which once refreshed their hearts ; when alas I
it is evident, they have now forsaken the fountain of
living water, and hewn to themselves broken cisterns
that hold no water ; unless the mire of evil tempers,
selfish views, and heartless professions of faith, may
pass for the streams which gladden the city of God.

Neither do thou heal thyself by touches of sorrow,
by tears, good desires, or outward marks of humilia-
tion for sin, as king Ahab. Nor by excessive fasting,
retiring from business, or hard usage of the body, as
many Roman catholics : Nor yet by misapplying the
doctrine of predestination, and setting down notions
of election for evidences of salvation, as many pro-
testants : No, nor by doting about questions, strifes of
words, and perverse disputings, which eat as a canker,
as some in St. Paul's days, and too many in ours. 1
Tim. vi. 4.

To conclude, think not thou art absolutely made
whole when the power of outward sin is weakened or
suspended., when thou hast learned the language of
Canaan., canst speak or write well on spiritual subjects,
art intimately acquainted with the best ministers of
Christ, and hast cast thy lot among the despised chii-

SEEKERS FOR SALVATION. \9f

dren of God, taken their part, shared in their re-
proach, and secured their esteem and prayers. Judas
did so for years : Saul was once also among the pro-
phets : Ananias and Sapphira were supposed to be
good believers for a time, the foolish virgins joined in
fcociety with the wise, and were perhaps unsuspected,
to the last ; and Peter himself stood in need of conver-
sion, long after he had outwardly left all to follow
Christ. Luke xxii. 32. So important is that charge
of our Lord ! " Strive to enter in at the strait gate, fcr
many will seek to enter in and shall not be able."

To these cautions against the various ways, by
which the generality of penitents skin over the wound
of sin in their conscience, permit me to add an

EVANGELICAL EXHORTATION,

Pointing out the divine method of a sound cure, which,
though least regarded, and last tried, by most sinners,
is not only effectual in some, but infallible in all cases.

IV. Wouldst thou, serious reader, be made whole
in an evangelical manner ? To thy convictions of ori-
ginal and actual sin must be added, a conviction of un-
belief. Feel then, that thou hast neglected Christ's
great salvation : Own thou didst never ask, or never
persevere in asking the unfeigned, saving, powerful
faith by which the atonement is received and enjoyed,
Rom. 5. 11. Acknowledge, that the faith thou hast
hitherto rested in was not that gift of God, that grace
of his own operation, wrought m thee according to the
working of his mighty power, and mentioned Eph. ii.
8. Col. ii. 12. Eph. i. 19. And confess, it was not the
right christian faith ; because it chiefly grew from the
seed of prejudice and education, as the faith of Jews
and Turks ; and not from the seed of divine grace and
power, as the faith of St. Paul, Gal i. 15. and because
it never yielded the heavenly fruits which gospel-faith
infallibly produces : Such as. ...a vital union with Christ,

R

194 AN ADDRESS TO EARNEST

Gal. ii. 20. ...The pardon of sins, Col. i. 14. Acts xiik
SO... .Peace with God, Rom. t. 1.... Dominion over sin,
Rom. vi. 14.. ..Victory over the world, 1 John v. 4....
The crucifixion of the flesh, Gal. v.... Power to quench
the fiery darts of the wicked, Eph. vi. 15. ...Joy un-
speakable, 1 Pet. i. 8. ...And the salvation of thy soul,
1 Pet. 1. 9. Heb. x. 39.

Be not afraid of this conviction of unbelief ; for it ge-
nerally goes before divine faith, as the fermentation of a
grain of corn in the earth, is previous to its shooting its
stalk towards heaven. God concludes, us shut up in
unbelief, says St- Paul, that he may have mercy upon us,
Rom. xi. 32. When the comforter is come, says our
Lord, he will convince the world of sin, because they
believe not in me. This is the transgression which
peculiarly deserves the name of sin, as being the damn-
ing sin according to the gospel, Mark xvi. 16. the sin
that binds upon us the guilt of all our other iniquities,
and keeps up the power of all our corruptions. Its im-
mediate effect is to harden the heart, Mark xvi. 14.
and make it depart from the living God, Heb. iii. 12.
and this hardness and departure are the genuine pa-
rents of all our actual sins, the number and blackness
of which increases or decreases, as the strength of
unbelief grows or decays.

A conviction of this sin is of the utmost importance,
as nothing but an affecting sense of its heinousness
and power, can make us entirely weary of ourselves....
nothing but a sight of its destructive nature can pre-
vent our resting without a complete cure.

But when thou art once convinced of unbelief, do not
encrease the difficulty of believing by imagining true
faith at an immense distance. Consider it as very
near thy heart. That which convinces thee of sin and
unbelief can in a moment, and with the greatest ease
convince thee of righteousness, and reveal in thee
Christ the hope of glory. How quickly can the Spirit
take of the things that belong to him, and show them
umo thee ! Say not then in thy heart, who shall ascend

SEEKERS FOR SALVATION. 195

into heaven, or descend into the deep to get me the
seed of faith? But let St. Paul shew thee the neAV
and living way. The word is nigh thee, says he, even
in thy mouth and in thy heart, that is the word of
faith which we preach ; that if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy
heart that God hath raised him from' the dead, thcu
shalt be saved ; for we are saved by faith, faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Hear then
the word of the Lord.

Are thy sins really grievous to thee? Is the burden
of them intolerable ? wouldst thou part with it at any
rate? Dost thou fully renounce thy speculative and
barren faith ? Hast thou received the sentence of eter-
nal death in thy conscience, acknowledging thy case
(for any thing thcu canst do without Christ) helpless,
hopeless, desperate ? and art thou truly brought to the
grand inquiry, what must I do to be saved ? See, feel,
confess,xthat thou standest in absolute need cf a divine
physician, an- Almighty Redeemer; and, that the God-
man Jesus Christ, joins both those extraordinary cha-
racters in his wonderful person. Submit to be saved by
grace, by free grace, through his infinite merits, and
not thy wretched deserts; and instead of opposing, con-
tinually study God's wonderful method of saving sin-
ners, the worst of sinners, by faith in his blood.

There is no name but his under heaven, whereby
we must be saved ; neither is there cure, or salvation
in any other, Acts iv. 12. As by him all things were
created, so by him they subsist, and by him they must
be restored. The power of his word and breath, made
man a. living soul ; and now that we are dead to God,
the same power, applying his blood and righteousness,
must create in us clean hearts, and renew right spirits
within us. This, and this only, heals wounded con-
sciences, washes polluted souls, and raises the dead in
trespasses and sins.

Wouldst thou then be made whole ? Determine, as
St. Paul, to know nothing but Christ, and him cruci-

W6 AN ADDRESS TO EARNEST

fied : aim at believing, realizing, applicatory views of
what he is, and what he has done and suffered for thee.
Through all the clouds of thy guilt and unbelief, which
will vanish before our Sun of righteousness, as mists
before the material sun, behold him as the Lamb of
God, that taketh away the sin of the world, and thine
....See the immense dignity of his person : he is God
over all blessed for ever ; and yet he condescends
to be Emmanuel, God with us, flesh of our flesh and
bone of our bone. ...Consider the inexpressible value,
and inconceivable efficacy of his precious, all-atoning
blood. It is the blood of the sacred body, assumed by
the eternal Logos, when he appeared in the likeness of
sinful flesh, both as a victim and a priest, to suffer the
penalty of his own righteous law for us, and to put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself.. ..the blood of the
fomb of God, slain to sprinkle many nations.. ..the blood
of that mysterious Being, who fills the bosom of the-
Father, and the everlasting throne, at whose feet all
the heavenly powers cast their crowns ; and to whom,
in the midst of the acclamations and adorations of an in-
numerable company of angels, in the midst of sounding
trumpets, thunde rings, lightnings, and voices, the spi-
rits of just men made perfect ascribe salvation, free,
full, immensely dear-bought salvation : and to say all
in one word, it is the blood of God manifest in the
flesh. Acts xx. 28. 1 Tim. hi. 16. For Jehovah our
righteousness is the seed of the woman and the Son of
man : The God-head and the manhood are wonderfully
joined in him : and in consequence of this mysterious
union, he is not only a proper mediator between God
and man, but the sole medium of reconciliation and uni-
on, between the offended Majesty of heaven and the
rebellious sons of Adam. As the brazen serpent lift-
ed up in the wilderness, when viewed by the wounded
Israelites, was the only means by which the poison of
the fiery serpents could be expelled, and health restor-
ed to their tortured, dying bodies : So Jesus lifted up
on the cross, when beheld by the eye of faith, as bleed-

SEEKERS FOR SALVATION. 197

ing and dying in our stead, is the only way by which
sin, the sting of death can be extracted out of our guil-
ty, perishing souls : the only antidote that can restore
us to saving health and eternal life. John hi. 14. Ap-
ply whatever we will, besides this sovereign remedy ;
we may poison, but can never heal the envenomed and
mortal wound.

But remember, Sinner, that faith alone can make
the blessed application. Adam fell by rejecting in un-
belief the word ofthreatning, and thou canst never rise,
but by receiving in faith the word of reconciliation.
Gen. ii. 17. 2 Cor. v. 19. Instead then of confusing thy
thoughts, and scattering thy desires by the persuit of a
variety of objects ; remember that one thing is needful
for thee.. ..Christ and his salvation received by faith : for,
to as many as recieve him, he gives power to become
the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.
Beseech him, therefore to manifest himself to thee by
his word and Spirit. He is the author and finisher of
faith, the giver of every good and perfect gift ; ask of
him, an heart-felt confidence, that God so loved thee,
as to give his only begotton Son, that thou shouldest not
perish but have everlasting life, a firm confidence, that
as the first Adam wilfully ruined thee ; so he, the second
Adam, freely loved thee, and gave himself for thee ;
and that thou hast redemption through his blood, the
forgiveness of sins, not according to thy merits, but
the riches of his grace.

The least degree of this -divinely-wrought confi-
dence, will begin to attract and unite thy soul to him,
who is our life and peace, our strength and righteous-
ness. The everlasting gospel will then be music in
thine ears, and power in thy heart. Its cheerful, so-
lemn sound, will raise thy drooping spirits, and make
thee fix the eye of thy mind on the sign of the Son of
man, the uplifted banner of the cross : And oh ! while
the self-righteous see nothing there but the despised,
rejected man of sorrow, what wilt thou discover ? God
iu Christ reconciling the world unto himself ! God man-

198 AN ADDRESS TO EARNEST

ifest in the flesh to destroy the works of the devil ! Je-
hovah Jesus, the captaia of our salvation, treading the
wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of the Al-
mighty! Of the people there was none with him,
therefore his own arm brought salvation unto him.

While the gospel trumpet is blown in Sion, and
the self-hardened, scoffing infidel, hears it with disdain
and ridicule, what joy will the awful declarations con-
vey to thy penitent and listening soul! With what rap-
turous delight wilt thou hang upon the lips of the mes-
sengers of peace, the sons of consolation ; who preach
free salvation by the blood of Jesus ! White he him-
self, confirming the word of his servants, says to the
melting heart, with his still, small, and yet powerful
renovating voice : Behold, I sit upon my throne making
all things new.. ..The words that I speak are spirit and
li£e....I do not condemn thee, thy sins are forgiven.. .Be
thou clean. ...Thy faith hath saved thee. ...Go in peace
and sin no more. Rev. xxi. 5. John vi. 63. Luke vii.
48, 50. Matt viji. 3. John viii. 11,

And oh ! what will thy believing, enlarged heart ex-
perience in that day of Clod's power, and thy spiritual
birth i Christ the true light of the world, the eternal
life of men, coming suddenly to his temple, and filling
it with the light of his countenance, and the power of
his resurrection! Christ shedding abroad in thy ravish-
ed soul, the love of thy heavenly Father, thy bitterest
enemies, and all mankind !....In a word, the Holy
Ghost given unto thee ! Or, Christ dwelling in thy
heart by faith! John i. 4. 1 John v. 12. Rom. 8. 15. and
v. 5. Gal. i. 16. Eph.i. 13, and hi. 17.

Being thus made par.akers of Christ, and of the
Holy Ghost, Heb. hi. 14. and vi. 4. thy loving heart, thy
praising lips, thy blameless life will agree to testify,
tii&t the Soti of man hath power on earth to forgive
sins, ar;d that if any man is in Christ, he is a new crea-
ture : old things are passed away ; behold, all things
rsi. 6. 2 Ccr. v. i7.

SEEKERS FOR SALVATION. 19*

Till this is thy happy experience, pray (as the draw-
ings of the Father, and convictions of the Spirit will en-
able thee) earnestly pray for living faith, for a faith that
may be to thee the substance of the pardon thou hopest
for, and the evidence of the great sacrifice thou dost not
see, but which our divine surety really offered upon the
cross for thee. Consider how deplorable a thing it is,
that thou shouldest be prevented from claiming, receiv-
ing, enjoying the delightful knowledge of thy interest
in the Redeemer's death ; when his pardoning love,
and the word of his grace, offer it thee without money
and without price, and absolutely nothing but infatuat-
ing unbelief or spiritual sloth, keeps thee from the in-
valuable blessing. Be not satisfied idly to wait in the
divine ordinances, till thou seest the kingdom of God
come with- power; but as the violent do, take it by
force.

Prisoner of hope, be strong, be bold,
Cast off thy doubts, disdain to fear*

Dare to believe, on Christ lay hold ;

Wrestle with Christ in mighty prayer :

Tell him, I will not let the go,

Till I thy name, thy nature know.

Be attentive to the calls of the Spirit, and follow the
/drawing of the Father, till they bring thee to the Son;
and keep thine eye upon the dawning- light of the gos-
pel, till the morning-star arise in thy heart. Venture
confidently venture upon the boundless mercy of God in
Jesus Christ. If a spirit of 'm ;irmity bows thee down,
yield not to it, seventy times seven times, try to arise
and look up calling aloud for help against it. Say, if
possible with tears, as the distressed father in the gos-
pel, Lord I believe, or, Lord I Would believe, help then
my unbelief : Or with tempted Job, though thou sla*
me, ytt will I trust in thee.

In this manner knock with the earnestness o;
importunate widow, till the door cf faith t>pen, and

200 AN ADDRESS TO EARNEST

thou begin to see the salvation of God ; but stop not
. here at the threshold of Christianity. Have boldness
to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. Go on
from faith to faith, till thy day of Pentecost is fully-
come, till thou art endued with power from on high,
baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire, and sealed
with that holy Spirit of promise, which Christ re-
ceived of the Father, and abundantly shed on his ser-
vants and handmaids, when he was glorified. Com-
pare Matt. iii. 1 1. Eph. i. 13. John vii. 39. Acts i. 5,
8, and ii. 33, 39, and viii. 15, and xix. 2. John vii. 39.
Tit. iii. 6.

In the mean time, use all the means of grace with
an eye to their end ; stir up the gift of hope that is in
thee ; and to raise thy drooping expectation, receive
the encouraging testimony of God's redeemed, prais-
ing people, whose hearts and tongues are ready to tes-
tify to thy ears what the following lines declare to
thine eyes.

V. That which we have seen and heard declare
we unto you, that you also may have fellowship with
us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father and
with his Son Jesus Christ. For the life was manifest-
ed, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew un-
to you that eternal life, which was with the Father,
and is manifested unto us. Yes, we have found him,
of whom Moses and the prophets did write. From
blessed experience we declare, that the Messiah is
come, that his essence is Love incarnate, his name
free Salvation, and his delight the eternal happiness of
the children of men. K^ is the chief among tqi thou-
sand prophets, priests, kings and saviours ; he is alto-
gether lovely- We staked our souls upon his eternal
truth, and it was done to us, both according to his
word and our faith : Therefore with humble joy we
declare, that he answers the prayers, and delivers the
souls of perishing sinners, as graciously as he did in the
days of his ilesh.

SEEKERS FOR SALVATION. 201

Upon trials, a thousand times successfully repeat-
ed, we proclaim him the help of the helpless, the hope
of the hopeless, the health of the sick, the strength of
the weak, the riches of the poor, the peace of the dis-
quieted, the comfort of the afflicted, the light of those
that sit in darkness, the companion of the desolate, the
friend of the friendless, the way of the bewildered, the
wisdom of the foolish, the righteousness of the un-
godly, the sanclification of the unholy, the redemption
of captives, the joy of mourners, the glory of the infe-
mous, and in a word, the salvation of the lost.

Though he was the Creator of men and angels, he
vouchsafed to be bom of a woman, that we, the wretch-
ed offsprings of degenerate Adam, might be born
again, born of God. Though he had stretched forth
the heavens like a curtain, and bespangled them with
stars innumerable ; he wrapped himself in the scanty,
lading garment of our flesh-, and put on the vail of oui?
miserable humanity, that we might be invested with
the glory, and communicable perfections of the divine
nature. Though he was the King of kings, and Lord
of lords, he did not disdain to take upon him the form
and office of a servant, that we might be delivered from
the slavery of satan, and that angels might be sent
forth to minister for us, who are the heirs of salvation.
Though he was the fulness of him who fills all in all,
he worked, that we might not want ; toiled, that we
might rest ; endured hunger and thirst, that we might
taste the hidden manna, eat the bread of life, and drink
with him the mystic wine of his Father's kingdom.
His omnipotent word covers a thousand hills with ver-
dure, and clothes millions of creatures with rich furs,
glittering scales, and shining plumage ; but O infinite
condescension ! he submitted to be stript of his plain
raiment* that our shame might not appear ; he be-
came naked, that we might be adorned with robes of
righteousness and garments of salvation, Though his
riches were immense and unsearchable like himself,
though heaven was his throne, and earth his footstoolr

202 AN ADDRESS TO EARNEST

he became poor, was destitute of a place where to lay
his head, that we might be rich in faith here, and
heirs of the kingdom hereafter. Though he was, is
now, and ever shall be the joy of the heavenly powers,
and the object of their deepest adoration ; he was vo-
luntarily despised of men, that we might be honoured
of God: He was acquainted too with griefs, that we
might rejoice with joy unsp'eakable, and full of glory.
Though supreme Lawgiver and Judge of all, matchless
love made him yield to be judged, and unjustly con-
demned at Pilate's bar that we might be honourably
acquitted, and gloriously rewarded before his awful
tribunal. Though archangels laid their crowns at his
feet, and seraphim veiled their faces before him, un-
able to stand the dazzling effulgence of his glory, he
suffered himself to be derided, scoffed, spit upon,
scourged, and crowned with thorns ; that we might be
acknowledged, applauded, embraced, and presented
with never-fading crowns of righteousness and glory.
The Lord of Hosts is his name ; he is deservedly
called Wonderful Counsellor, the everlasting Father,
the mighty God, the prince of peace ;. cherubic legions
fiy at his nod ; and yet, astonishing humiliation ! His
shoulders, on which he laid the government of the
world, felt the infamous load of a malefactor's cross ;
and barbarous soldiers followed by an enraged mob,
led him as a lamb to the slaughter, that we might be
delivered from the heavy curse of the law, and gently
conveyed by celestial powers into Abraham's bosom.
Let all the angels of God worship him, is the great
decree, to which the heavenly hierarchy submits with
incessant transports of the most ardent devotion ; and
yet, he was crucified as an execrable wretch, guilty of
treason and blasphemy ; that we, daring rebels and
abominable sinners, might be made kings and priests
unto God, partaking of his highest glory, as he par-
took of our deepest shame : And, to crown his loving-
kindness, he expired in the midst 'of rending rocks,
and a supernatural darkness ; that wc might feel his

SEEKERS FOR SALVATION. 203

tender mercies, and be indulged with the light of hea-
ven, when we go through the dreary valley of the
shadow of death, to reap the joys of eternal life.

Survey this wond'rous cure :

And at each step let higher wonder rise !
Pardon for infinite offence ! and pardon
Through means that speak its value infinite !
A pardon bought with blood ! with blood divine !
With blood divine of him, we made our foe !
Persisted to provoke ! though woo'd and aw'd,
Bless'd and chastis'd, bold flagrant rebels still !
Bold rebels 'midst the thunders of his throne !
Nor we alone I a rebel universe !
Yet for the foulest of the foul he dies.

But this is not all : Having through the grace of
God tasted death for every man, and perfumed the
grave for believers,

He rose ! He rose ! He broke the bars of death.

Oh the burst gates, crush'd sting, demolished throne,

Last gasp of vanquish'd death ! Shout, earth and

heav'n,
This sum of good to man ; whose nature, then,
Took wing, and mounted with him from the tomb !
Then, then, we rose ; then first humanity
Triumphant, pass'd the crystal gates of light.

Young.

O the depth of the mystery of faith ! O the
breadth, the length, the height of the love of Christ !
All his stupendous humiliation from his Father's bo-
som, through the virgin's womb, to the accursed tree ;
all his astonishing exaltation, from the dust of the
grave, and the sorrows of hell, to the joys of heaven,
and the highest throne of glory ; all this immense pro-
gress of incarnate love. ...all, all is ours 1 His mysteri-
ous incarnation re-unites and endears us to God : his

204 AN ADDRESS TO EARNEST

natural birth procures our spiritual regeneration ; his
unspotted life restores us to a blissful immortality ; his
bitter agony gives us calm repose : his bloody sweat
washes away our manifold pollutions ; his deep wounds
distil the balm that heals our envenomed sores ; his
perfect obedience is our first title to endless felicity ;
his full atonement purchases our free justification ;
his cruel death is the spring of immortal life ; his
grave the gate of heaven ; his resurrection the pledge
of glory ; his ascension, the triumph of our souls ; his
sitting at the right hand of the Majesty on high, the
earnest of our future coronation and exalted felicity ;
and his prevailing intercession the inexhaustible foun-
tain of our blessings.

Come then, conscious sinner, come to the feast
of pardoning love ; taste with us, that the Lord is
gracious. Let not a false humility detain thee, under
pretence, that " thou art not yet humbled and broken
enough for sin." Alas ! who can humble thee but Je-
sus, that says, without me ye can do nothing ? and how
canst thou be broken, but by falling upon this chief
corner-stone ? If humiliation and contrition are - parts
of the salvation which he merited for thee, is it not
the quintes sence of self-righteousness, to attempt to
obtain them without him ? away then, for ever away
with such a dangerous excuse !

Nor let the remembrance of thy sins keep thee
from the speediest application to Jesus for grace and
pardon. What ! though thy crimes are of the deepest
dye, and most enormous magnitude ; though they
are innumerable as the sand on the sea shore, and
aggravated by the most uncommon and horrid circum-
stances ; yet thou needest not despair: he has opened
a fountain for sin of every kind, and uncleanness of
every degree ; his blood cleanses from all sin.

He is a Redeemer most eminently fitted, a Saviour
most completely qualified to restore corrupt, guilty,
apostate undone mankind ; the vilest of the vile, the
foulest of the foul not excepted. , He is almighty, and

SEEKERS FOR SALVATION. 2©5

therefore perfectly able to restore lapsed powers, root
up inveterate habits, and implant heavenly tempers.
He is love itself, compassionate, merciful, pardoning
love, become incarnate for thee. And shall he, that
spared not his own life, but delivered himself up for
us all. ...shall he not with his own blood, also freely
give us all things ?

Behold, oh behold him with the eye of thy faith :
cruelly torn with various instruments of torture, he
hangs aloft on the accursed tree, between two of the
most execrable malefactors ; and there, insulted more
than they, he bears our infamous load of guilt. He
knows no sin, and yet he is made sin for us : he be-
comes a curse, to redeem us from the curse of the
law: his own self bears our sins in his own body on
the tree : he is wounded for our transgressions, and
bruised for our iniquities ; the chastisement of our
peace is upon him, God hath laid on him the iniquity
of us all, and with his stripes we are healed.

See, Pardon for lost sinners is written with pointed
steel and streaming blood, on his pierced hands and
feet : The double flood issuing from his wounded
side, more than seals the dear-bought blessing : The
hand-writing against us is nailed to his cross, and blot-
ted out with his precious blood : His open arms in-
vite, draw, and welcome returning prodigals, : and
there encircled, the worst of sinners may find a safe
and delightful retreat, a real and present heaven.

O sinner, let thy heart fly thither on the wings of
eager expectation and impetuous desire. ...By all that
is near, dear, and sacred to thee, fly.. ..Fly from eternal
death. ...Fly for eternal life. The law, violated by ten
thousand transgressions, pursues thee with ten thou-
sand curses : the sword of divine vengeance flames
over thy devoted head : Sin, the sting of death, has
been a thousand times shot into thy wretched breast :
its subtle and dire poison continually works in thy
hardened, or distressed heart: Guilt, the sling of sin....
the never-dying worm, perpetually benumbs thy stu-

206 AN ADDRESS TO EARNEST

pid soul or gnaws thy restless conscience : Raging
lusts, those sparks of the fire of hell, which nothing
but the blood of the cross can quench ; or fierce pas-
sions, those flashes of infernal lightning, that portend
an impending storm, frequently break out in thy be-
nighted soul ; an heart-felt pledge of tormenting
flames : Satan, whom thou hast perhaps invoked by
horrid imprecations, goes about as a roaring lion, seek-
ing to ensnare his careless votary, or devour his des-
perate worshipper : Death levels his pointed spear, at
thy thoughtless or throbbing heart : Hell itself is
moved from beneath, to meet thee at thy coming ; and
the grave gapes at thy feet, ready to close her hideous
mouth upon her accursed prey.

Fly then, miserable sinner.. ..if thy flesh is not
brass, and thou canst not dwell with everlasting burn-
ings, fly for shelter to the bloody cross of Jesus. There
thou wilt meet him, who was, and is, and is to come ;
Emmanuel God with us, who appeared as the son of
man, to make his soul an offering for sin, for thy sin ;
and saved thy life from destruction, by losing his own in
pangs, which made the sun turn pale, shook the earth,
and caused the shattered graves to give up their dead.
lie is even now near to thy heart ; he stands at the
door, and gently knocks by the word of his grace. If
thou nearest his voice, and openest by believing, he
will come in : the word of reconciliation shall be pow-
erfully ingrafted into thy heart ; thou shalt know,
experimentally know the truth, and the truth shall
make thee free. Assured that he hath by himself
purp;ed thy sins, abolished death, and brought life and
immortality to light through the gospel, thou shalt
sup with him and he with thee ; thou shalt eat the
bread of God, which came down from heaven, to give
life to a perishing world. Evangelical truth received
by faith, will heal, nourish, comfort and sanctify thy
soul.

But perhaps thy guilty heart receives no consola-
tion from these lines. Thou still considerest Christ

SEEKERS FOR SALVATION. 207

©nly as a severe Lawgiver, or as an inflexible Judge ;
and not as the propitiation for thy sins, and thy graci-
ous, all-prevailing Advocate with the Father. Oh !
how dost thou wrong both him, and thyself, by
such false conceptions ! And how soon would thy
gloomy fears give place to triumphant joy, if thy
thoughts of him corresponded' with his gracious de-
signs concerning thee !

Wouldst thou know him better ; behold him
through the glass of his word, and not through the
mist of thy fears ; and thou wilt see that, far from
watching over thee for evil, he fixes upon thte the
piercing eye of his redeeming love ; waits, that he
may be gracious to thy soul, and calls, continually calls
for thee. Oh i if tho?i hast an ear listen, and as thou
listenest wonder at the kind, reviving words, which
proceed out of his mouth.

VI. * " Comfort ye, comfort ye my people* says
the Lord ; "speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and
cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, and
her iniquity is pardoned ; for, in me, she hath re-
ceived of the Lord's hand, double for ail her sins :
He is well pleased for my righteousness sake, I have
magnified the law and made it honourable ; I have
been lifted up, and now I draw all men unto me. My
delights are with the sons of men, and therefore am

* This part of the address is almost literally transcribed from
the scripture, and it is designed for none but mourners in Sion, de-
jected sinners, who are backward to come to Christ, that they
may have life- These want line upon line, and invitation upon in-
vitation ; and it is well if, after all, they are encouraged to come.
As for full souls, I know they will loath this honey-comb. But
while they complain " it has too many cells, and they are filled with
the same thing ;'' some poor hungry hearts will say, " One thing
is needful" for us. We cannot have too much virgin-heney ; its
sweetness makes amends for the want of variety. If the manna
fall abundantly round our tents, it will stir us up to praise, and
not to murmur. Fulness otthe bread of life will not make us wax,
fat and kick like Jeshurun, but bless God for his rich profusion, and
with the disciples, we shall even gather the fragments that nothing
be lost."

JM AN ADDRESS TO EARNEST

I exalted, that I may have mercy upon them. Be-
hold I come with a strong hand, my reward is with
me, and my work before me. Every valley shall be
exalted, every mountain and hill shall be made low ;
the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough
places plain ; my glory shall be revealed, and all flesh
shall see it together.

" Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted, that are far
from righteousness ; I bring near my righteousness,
it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tar-
ry. Seek ye me while I may be found, call upon
mc while I am near : Return unto me, and I will
have mercy upon you : and though ye have only done
evil before me from your youth, I will abundantly par-
don : For my thoughts are not revengeful as your
thoughts, nor may ways unloving as your ways: In
me you shall be saved with an everlasting 'salvation.

" Come therefore unto me, all ye that travail and
are heavy iackn, and I will give you rest: My yoke
is easy, my burden is light, and my rest glorious. Ho I
every one that thirsteth come ye to the waters, and he
jfchat hath no money ; come ye buy and eat all that
cm revive, strengthen, and delight your souls ; yea,
come, buy wine and milk without money and without
price. Wherefore do ye spend your money for that
which is not bread, and your labour for that which
satisfieth not ? Hearken diligently unto me, eat that
which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fat-
ness. Incline your ear, and come unto me ; hear, and
your soul shall live : I will make an everlasting cove-
nant with you, even the sure mercies of David, and you
shall all know me, from the least to the greatest ; for
I will forgive your iniquity ; and remember your sin
no more.

u Oh, if thou knewest the gifts of God, wretched
sinner, and who it is that saith unto thee, If any man
thirst, let him come to me and drink, thou wouldst
have asked of him, and he would have given thee liv-
ing water ; a well, a fountain of it would have sprung

SEEKERS FOR SALVATION. 209

i up in. thee unto everlasting life ; yea, out of thy belly,
thy inmost soul, rivers of living water, the greatest
abundance of the purest joy, would have flowed for
ever. I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgres-
sions for my own sake, and will not remember thy sin3 :
I will guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in
drought ; and thou shalt be like a watered garden, or
like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

" O how often would I have gathered thee in years
past, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings !
How often would I have led thee, as an eagle fluttereth
over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh
them, and beareth them ! but thou wouldst not. Ne-
vertheless, this is still the day of my power, mercy,
and love : I pardon those whom I reserve, and I will
yet be pacified towards thee, for all that thou hast done.
I was angry with thee, but mine anger is turned
away, my thoughts towards thee are thoughts of peace,
and I am become thy salvation. Come then, let us
now reason together, and though thy sins be as scar-
let, they shall be as white as snow ; though they be
red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

Why does not thy drooping heart, O sinner, leap*''
for joy, or melt with gratitude, at these tender invita-
tions of thy Saviour? Thinkest thou, they do not belong
to thee? Dost thou suppose that Jesus, who is all puri-
ty and holiness, must turn away with abhorrence from
such a guilty, polluted and abominable creature as
thou art ?....One so void of all good, so full of all evil,
so completely lost and undone as thou seest thyself ?
Art thou afraid that thy relapses into sin have been
so frequent, and thy backslidings so multiplied, that
hope, which comes to .all, can no more come to thee ?
Or does the enemy of thy soul suggest thou art care-
less, hardened and sunk into stupid unbelief ? Does he
insinuate, thou hast so long trifled with divine grace,
art gone such lengths in horrid , wickedness, or hast
cted such unconquerable habits of indulging thy
carnal mind, or following thy vain imaginations, that
s 2

1 19 AN ADDRESS TO EARNEST

infinite mercy can no longer pardon thy sins, or infi-
nite power change thy nature ? Art thou even tempt-
ed to believe, thou hast committed the sin against
the Holy Ghost, and art almost, if not altogether,
given up to a reprobate mind ? O check those gloo-
my, despairing thoughts ; resist the devil ; and give
place to more true and honourable sentiments of Jesus.
Wherefore dost thou doubt, O thou of little faith 1
Is any thing too hard for the Lord ! Are not all things
possible with God ? Can the Almighty, who became
incarnate to die, as man, in thy place, want either
ability or willingness to help thee, be'thy case ever so
deplorable and desperate ? Are not darkness or light,
sickness or death, all one to him, who is the light of
the world and the Prince of life ; and who, with a word
or a touch raised the dead, whether they were yet
warm on a bed, cold in a coffin, or already putrified
in a grave ?

Confine not then, poor dejected sinner, thy Sa-
viour's boundless mercy within the narrow limits of
thy unbelieving thoughts. Get scriptural views of his
pardoning love, and true discoveries of his redeeming
power. To guess aright at the prodigious extent of
, his mercy, lift up the dim eyes of thy struggling faith,
and behold a great multitude, which no man can
number, standing before the throne, with their robes
washed, and made white in the blood of the Lamb.

Among those countless monuments of divine mer-
cy, those illustrious trophies of free grace, see David,
who, after having been admitted to close communion
with God, plunged for ten months in the horrible guilt
of adultery, treachery, hypocrisy, and murder!. ...See
Paul, once so fierce an enemy to the truth, so fiery a
blasphemer of Jesus, so raging a persecutor of the
saints, that his very breath was threatenings and
slaughter against them !....See Peter, who, after a
great profession of faithfulness and upon an apparently
slight temptation, denied three times his Master, his
Saviour, and his God," in his very presence. ...Peter,

SEEKERS FOR SALVATION. 2 1 1

guilty of lying> cursing, and perjury ; immediately-
after he had been apprised of the imminent tempta-
tion, and armed against it, both by receiving the holy-
sacrament at our Lord's own hand, and being admitted
to see his wonderful agony, and glorious miracles I
These, and thousands more agree to tell thee, For
this cause we obtained mercy, that in us first, Jesus
Christ might shew forth all long suffering, for a pat-
tern to them, which should hereafter believe on him to
life everlasting.

If all these witnesses do not silence thy doubts,
and encourage thy hopes ; Jesus himself the faithful
and true witness, will yet plead the cause of his dying
love, against thy unbelieving fears : Thy gracious
Advocate with God, will yet be God's condescending
Advocate with thee. O let thy clamourous conscience
keep silence, while he preaches to thee the everlast-
ing gospel of his grace. And if to-day thou hearest
his voice, harden not thy heart, come out of the cave
of unbelief, wrap thyself in the mantle of divine mercy,
and worship the pardoning God, the God of never-
failing truth and everlasting love.

Gracious Saviour ! make thine own words, spirit
and life, to the soul thou hast formed by thy breath and
purchased with thy blood. ...Blessed comforter ! While
thy precious sayings strike the eyes of this hopeless
reader, let the love which thou sheddest abroad, soften,
melt and revive his poor, oppressed heart, and let salva-
tion come this day to the house of a son or daughter of
Abraham ! a touch, a breath from thee will break the
bars of iron, burst the gates of brass, and make the ever-
lasting doors lift up their heads, that the King of glory-
may come in.

Who is the King of glory ? Who is this, that Cometh
from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? This, that
is glorious in his ajijiarel> travelling in the greatness of
his strength ?

212 AN ADDRESS TO EARNEST

" I, that speak in righteousness, mighty to save, I
'have trodden the wine-press alone, mine own arm hath
brought salvation unto me, salvation for the lost : It is
gone forth ; my righteousness is near : the isles shall
wait on me, and on my arm shall they trust. The
Spirit of the Lord God is upon me: He hath anointed
me to preach good tidings to the meek ; he hath sent
me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty
to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them
that are bound, to comfort all that mourn, and by the
blood of the covenant, to send forth the prisoners out
of the pit where there is no water.

" Fear not therefore, thou worm Jacob, I am the
first and the last, he that liveth and was dead, and behold,
I am alive for evermore. Yes, I ever live to make in-
tercession for thee ; and because I live, thou shalt live
also. All power is given, all judgment is committed
to me in heaven and earth : I have the keys of death
and hell : A Jonah, who cries to me out the very belly
of hell, is not out of the reach of my gracious and om-
nipotent arm.

" Who art thou that hast feared continually every
day, because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were
ready to destroy ? I, even I am he that comforteth
thee. I bring glad tidings of great joy, which shall be
to all people. I have triumphed over all thine enemies
on the cross. I have led captivity, captive, and received
gifts for men, even the promise of the Father, that the
Lord God the Spirit may dwell in them. At my
command the great, the evangelical trumpet is blown,
and they that are ready to perish in the land of Assyria,
and the outcasts in the land of Egypt do come, and are
welcome to mount Sion. Hasten with them thou cap*
tive exile, hasten to me, that thou mayest be loosed,
and that thou shouldest not die in the horrible pit of
thy natural state.

" Thy helplessness is no hindrance to my loving
kindness : I break net the bruised reed, I quench not

SEEKERS FOR SALVATION. 213

*he smoaking flax: I uphold all that fall, I raise up all
those that are bowed down : I say to the prisoners, Go
forth ; and to them that are in darkness, shew your-
selves : I strengthen the weak hands, and confirm the
feeble knees : I say to them that are of a fearful heart,
be strong, fear not; behold, I will, come with ven-
geance andarecompence, I will come and save you.

" My tender mercies are over all my works.
When the poor and needy seek water, and there
is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst; I the
Lord, will hear them ; I, the God of Israel, will not
forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, I
will make the "wilderness a pool, and the dry land
springs of water.

" It is true, thou hast sinned with an high hand,
both against thy light, and against my love ; but hovr
shall I give ihee up, Ephraim ? How shall I deliver
thee, sinner ? How" shall I make thee as Admah, and
set thee as Zeboim, those rebellious cities, on which I
poured my flaming vengeance ? My heart is turned
within me, my repentings are kindled together ; I
will not destroy thee ; for 1 am God and not man.
I have seen thy -ways, and will heal and lead thee,
and restore comfort to thee ; for I create the fruit of
the lips, Peace ! Peace to him that is afar off, and to
him that is near, I will heal him.

a Thou hast not chosen me, but I have chosen
thee ; thou art my servant, fear not, for I am with
thee ; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of
my righteousness. They that war against thee
shall be as nothing, for I the Lord thy God will hold
thy right hand, and make my strength perfect in thy
weakness. I will bring thee by a way thou hast not
known. I will make darkness light before thee, and
crooked paths straight : When thou passest through
the waters, I will be with thee, and when thou walk-
est through the fire, thou shalt not be burnt,neither
shall the flame kindle upon thee, for I am the Lord,
thy Saviour and thy God. I have carried thee from

214 AN ADDRESS TO EARNEST

the womb, and even to hoary hairs will I bear and
deliver thee.

" Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted and drunk-
en, but not with wine : I will not contend for ever,
neither will I be always wroth ; for the spirit would
fail before me, and the soul which I have made.
I turn the water of affliction into the wine of conso-
lation. Behold, I take out of thy hand the cup of
trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury :
thou shalt no more drink it again ; I will put it into
the hand of them that afflict thy soul : and in the
room of it, I give thee the cup of the New Testa-
ment in my blood, shed for the remission of sins : It
is now ready, draw near, drink thou of it, and taste
that I am gracious.

M Come near that I may speak a word in season
to thy weary spirit. Why standest thou afar off ?
Come near, I say, that my soul may bless thee.
Let me shew thee my glory, and proclaim my soul-
reviving name : The Lord ! The Lord God ! mer-
ciful and gracious, long-siitTcring, and abundant in
goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands,
and forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin ! Let
me wash thy heart from iniquity, guilty sinner ; for
unless I wash thee, thou hast no part with me. Un-
less thou art born again of water and of the Spirit,
thou canst not see the kingdom of God. But this
is the covenant of promise which I make with thee :
I will sprinkle clean water upon thee, and thou shalt
be clean ; a new heart will I give thee, and a new
spirit, even my own Spirit, will I put within thee,
and thou shalt be completely born of God ; and at
that day thou shalt know that I am in the Father, and
thou in me, and I in thee.

" Who is he that condemneth ? It is I who died
for thy sins, yea rather, who rose again for thy jus-
tification, who am even at the right hand of God,
who also make intercession for thee. The same
•ompassionate love, that made me weep over un-

SEEKERS FOR SALVATION. 215

grateful Jerusalem, and groan over dead Lazarus,
made me bleed and die for thee. Othat in this thy
day, thou mayest know the things that belong unto
thy peace, and the efficacy of that sacrifice, by which
I have for ever perfected them that are sanctified !

0 that unbelief, so injurious to me, and so perni-
cious to thee, may no longer hide my love from thine
eyes 1

w What ! afraid of my purity, art thou ready to
ery out as my apostle ; Depart from me, O Lord, for

1 am a sinful man ? And dost thou tremble at my
words as a criminal ut the sentence of his judge ? O
be of good cheer, it is I be not afraid. Am not I
thy light and strength, thy shield and buckler, thy
tower and resting place, thy strong-hold whereunto
thou mayest always resort, thy castle and fortress,
the horn also of thy salvation and thy refuge ? as
for thy sins, if thou desirest to part with them, they
will no more hinder me from visiting thee, than the
sickness of a patient prevents a physician from giv-
ing him his attendance.

" I know thou art a sinner.... a great sinner : For
this cause came I down from heaven to Bethlehem....
to Gethsemane....to Calvary. I know thine iniquities
are more in number than the hairs of thy head ; like
a sore burden, they are too heavy for thee to bear ;
and therefore have I borne them for thee in my
own body on the tree.- I came not to call the righ-
teous, but sinners to repentance: I am the man that
receiveth sinners, and eateth with them : I am the
friend of returning publicans and harlots; all man-
ner of sins and blasphemies shall be forgiven them
through faith in my bleed: God was in me reconcil-
ing the world unto himself, not imputing their tres-
passes unto them : and ncwT, I beseech "thee, be thou
(for one) reconciled to God : for in me God is recon-
ciled to thee, thy sin is covered, and thine iniquity
forgiven.

216 AN ADDRESS TO EARNEST

* Great as thy crimes are, poor mourner in Ziom,
I upbraid thee not with them ; my infinitely merito-
rious sacrifice hath long ago atoned for their hein-
eousness, and now I cast the mantle of my pardon-
ing love over their multitude: Thou art ashamed of
them, and shall I be ashamed of thee ?....Far be the
thought from thee....I glory in extending my bound-
less mercy to such miserable objects as thou art.
This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all men to be
received, that I came into the world to save sinners :
and if with my servant Paul, thou seest thyself the
chief of them, let me do the chief part of the errand,
on which I came; look unto me.... partake with him
of my richest salvation.... lose thy cares in the bo-
som of my mercy.... and receive the atonement I
made for thee, but receive it now ; for I have heard
thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation
have I succoured thee : Behold, now is the accepted
time ; Behold, now is the day of salvation, the day in
which I bind up the breach of my people, and heal
the stroke of their wound.

" Whence arise, O poor sinner, thy backwardness
and misgivings ! I have ransomed thee from the
power of the grave, and thou art mine : 1 come to
heal thee, and reveal to thee the abundance of
peace and truth : I bring thee a cure for thy wound-
ed conscience, and saving health for thy sin-distem-
pered soul !

" In a Uttle wrath, and for a small moment, I have
hid my face from thee ; but with everlasting kind-
ness will I have mercy on thee ; for I am the Lord
thy Redeemer. Believe it, and faith will work by
love, and love will cast out fear : Thus shalt thou
take hold of my strength, that thou mayest make
peace with me, and thou shalt make peace with me ;
for I am a strength to the needy in his distress, an
hiding place from the wind, a covert from the tem-
pest, as rivers of water in a dry place, and as the sha-
dow of a great rock in a weary land.

SEEKERS FOR SALVATION. 217

" Come, then, be not of them that draw back from
me to perdition, butof them who believe to the saving
of the soul. Far from casting away thy little confi-
dence, which hath great recompence of reward, hold it
fast ; resist even unto blood, striving against the damn-
ing sin of unbelieve ; trust in me for ever, for in me Je-
hovah thy righteousness, is everlasting strength ; and
letme.no longer complain that thou, (one of my oppres-
sed people in spiritual Egypt) wilt have none of me ,and
wilt not even come to me, that thou mightest have life
more abundant])'.

" Not by works of righteousness which thou hast
done, but according to my mercy I save thee. I am
the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
What my gracious purpose planned before time, I
have executed in time. My life and death have com-
pleted the wdtiderful bridge, by which thou canst go
over the great deep fixed between an holy God, and
thy sinful soul. Concerning a main arch of this
mighty work, with one of my last breaths, I said 4 It
is finished ;' and I now confirm the glad tidings with
regard to the whole. With my right hand, and with
my holy arm, I have gotten myself the victory, and
parted for thee, not the waves of the. red sea, but the
dreadful billows of the fiery gulph. And now I return
to see thee safe over. Leave only the world and sin
behind, and walking by faith, follow me through the
the regeneration to a throne of glory....

" Whence arises, sinner, this backwardness to
trust in my promise, and venture after me ? D est thou
suspect the sincerity of my tenders of grace ? And by
thinking, that I secretly except thee from my mercy,
when I offer it thee openly, dost thou still make me
a dissembler, a lyar ? O wrong me not so far, I am
the truth itself: I abhor dissimulation in my creatures :
and I, that say, a man should not Use deceit, shall I
use deceit ? Shall I have concord with Belial ? Sliall
there be an agreement between the faithful Witness,
and the father of lies ? Shall I sentence him, that

T

218 AN ADDRESS TO EARNEST

loveth a lie, to the lake that buraeth with five and
brimstone, and be guilty of one myself? Horrible to
suppose ! Reject the blasphemous thought, Sinner,
it wounds me in the tenderest part.

" No, no, I do not put on a mask of pretended love,
to hide a rancorous, unforgiving- temper: The gene-
ral invitation that formerly passed my lips, is still the
very language of my heart, Whosoever will, let him
come and take of the water of life freely; and the pro-
mise, which I formerly made, is still firmer than the
pillars of heaven, Him that cometh unto me, I will in
^io wise cast out. Let these words, like incorruptible
seed, beget thee again to a lively hope, and help thee
to stir thyself up to lay hold on me and my great sal-
vation.

" I grant that no man cometh unto me except the
Father-draw him : But -does he not say ; I have loved
thee with an everlasting love, therefore •with loving-
kindness, with the cords of a man, with bands of love
have I drawn thee ? Dees he not draw thee even now ?
Who stirs thee up to repentance ? Who raises in thee
a desire of coming unto me by prayer ? Who indulges
thee at times with sweet hopes and alluring joys, to
encourage thee to come? Is it not my Father, and
thine, thou poor starving prodigal ? And that nothing
may be wanting on his part to make thee come, to
drawing does he not add driving ? Does he not obstruct
all thy prospects of creature -happiness, and blast all
thy worldly, yea and all thy self-righteous schemes ?
And while he touches thy heart with the rod of dis-
tress, does he not lay the scourge of affliction on thy
back, and put this gracious invitation in thy hand ?
Away then with thy hard thoughts of my Father : He
and I are a flame of eternal love : I and the Father
are one.

" Neither say thou in thy heart, This is a day of
trouble, rebuke, and blasphemy ; the children are
come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring
fonh. Shall 1 bring to the birth, and not give strength

SEEKERS FOR SALVATION. 2 If

according to the day ? Dost thou fear that my zeal,
my strength, and the sounding of my bowels towards
thee are restrained ? Am not I Jesus still ? Is my love
waxed cold that it cannot pity ? Is my hand shortened
at all 'that it cannot save ? Is mine ear heavy that it
cannot hear ? Or have I no power to deliver ? Behold,
at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I clothe the heaven
with blackness ; and if in the greatest storm, I say to
the raging billows, Be still ! There is a great calm :
Fear not then, the zeal of the Lord of Hosts. ...my
zeal will do this, and more for thy soul ; yea, I will do
for thee exceeding abundantly above all that thou
canst ask or think.

" I see what passes in thy heart, O thou unwise
and slow of heart to believe, all that I and my pro-
phets have spoken : I read thy new excuses. Thou
sayest thou dost not suspect me, my faithfulness and
my power: but thyself, thy helplessness and the
treachery of thy own desperately wicked heart....
What, shall this sore evil hinder thee from coming to
me, who alone can remedy it? Wilt thou pray to be
excused, from believing on such an account as this ?
Oh drop this last, this most absurd plea ; and walk in
the steps of the faith of thy father Abraham, R.om.
iv. 16. Consider not the deadness and hardness of
thy heart, but the reviving softening love of mine ;
not. thy want of power, but my omnipotence ; not the
suggestion of satan, but the declarations of my gos-
pel. Wrestle not only against flesh and blood, but
against the powers of eternal darkness, and the spi-
ritual wickedness of an unbelieving thought. Strive
to enter in at the strait gate of faith. Against hope
believe in hope, that I quicken the dead, and call the
things which are not as though they were. Stagger
no more at my promises through unbelief, but be
strong in faith, and give glory to God, by being fully
persuaded, that what I promise, I am able and wi 1-
Ung to perform.

220 AN ADDRESS TO EARNEST

" In me thou mayest find the richest and readiest
supply of all thy wants : I am both the Resurrection
of the dead, and the life of the living: he that be-
lieveth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he
live ; and he that liveth and believeth in me, shall
never die. Believe then, and thou shait not come into
condemnation. ...Believe, and thou shait receive power ;
thou shait see the glory of God; thou shall be esta-
blished ; yea, and sealed with the holy Spirit of pro-
mise....Believe and thou hast everlasting life, and
shait not come into condemnation. ...Believe, and a
grain of faith will remove mountains of guilt and un-
belief....Believe with all thy heart. ...All things are pos-
sible to him that believeth, and he shall inherit all
promises ; For to him that overcometh (and faith is
the victory) will I give to eat of the hidden manna,
and to sit with me on my throne ; as I also overcame,
and am set down with my Father on his throne. ...Only
believe then, and through faith thou shait subdue the
kingdom of darkness, work righteousness, obtain pro-
mises, stop the mouth of the roaring lion, quench the
violence of temptation's fire, escape the flaming point
of Satan's darts, out of weakness be made strong, wax
valiant in fight, turn to flight the armies of thy spirit-
ual adversaries, a:.d receive thy dead soiil raised to
life again.

" Thou hast played with the fiery serpents, they
have bitten thy heart, but 1 have already sucked the
worst of the mortal poison. In the perilous attempt
my soul was seized with sorrow even unto death, and
an unheard-of agony, attended with a bloody sweat,
came upon my body. A racking cross was the bed I
was stretched upon : sharp thorns proved the pillow
on which I rested my fainting head. The bitterest
sarcasms were my consolations ; vinegar and gall my
cordials ; a band of bloody soldiers the cruel wretches
appointed to tear open my veins ; whips, nails, ham-
mers and a spear, the instruments allowed them to

SEEKERS FOR SALVATION. 22 i

do the dreadful operation- For hours I bled under
their merciless hands ; and thy fearful curse, O sin-
ner, flowed together with my biood. In the mean
time, noon-day light was turned into the gloom of
night^a dire emblem of the darkness that overspread
my agonizing soul r and at last, while earthquakes
rocked me into the sleep of death, I gave up the
ghost, with cries that astonished my bitterest enemies*
and made them smite their breasts in pangs of invo-
luntary sympathy. Thus to make thee partaker of
my saving health, I took the shameful and painful
consequences of thy mortal distemper upon me. And
now sinner, despise no more such amazing love, re-
quite it with a believing look. Consider my wounds,
till thy conscience feels their wonderful effect- Be-
hold my atoning blood, till thou canst witness it heals
all thy infirmities.

" Knowing the terrors of the Lord, I persuade
men. Come thou poor prisoner of hope, turn by faith
to the strong hold of my protection.... Up ! for God
will destroy this Sodom, the wicked world where thou
lingerest....Up I for the great and terrible day of the
Lord approaches.. ..As I live, there is but one step be-
tween thee and death, and another between death and
heil.

" Let my love even constrain thee to arise, and to
follow me ; that I may receive thee unto myself, and
complain no longer, that, with respect to thee, I have
laboured in vain, and spent my strength for nought.
Surely sinner, I deserve thy grateful love, for I have
fought thy fiercest enemies. Dreadful was the battle I
my fiesh was torn, my blood spilt, my life lost in
the obtsinate combat : But I have slain the lion and
the bear, I have vanquished death and the grave, and
rescued thy poor helpless soul : and now let thy good
Shepherd rejoice over his lost sheep : Let gratitude
compel th.ee to come into the fold of my church, and
join the little flock of my faithful followers. And if
thou canst not come, do but look wishfully at me, and
t 2

222 AN ADDRESS TO EARNEST

I will Jay thee on my shoulders rejoicing, and carry
thee in triumph into the richest pastures of my grace.

" Once more I turn supplicant ; Once more I
stand at the door and knock.. ..Saul ! Saul ! It is hard
for thee to kick against the sharp goads of my love....
Martha 1 Martha'! one thing is needful, chuse the
good part, chuse me....O Absalom my son 1 my son !
give my thy heart ; I have died for thee, do not cru-
cify me afresh. ...Lay down t*he spear of unbelief, and
thine is my grace, my glory, my kingdom, the king-
dom of heaven.

" Be not afraid to surrender ; rebellious as thou
art, I love thee still. ...Can a woman forget her sucking
child, that she should not have compassion on the son
of her womb ? Yea, she may forget, yet I will not for-
get thee. If thou wilt not take my word, believe my
oath : Because I can swear by no greater, I swear
by myself : As I live, I have no pleasure in the death
of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his
way and live : Turn then, turn unto me, for I have
redeemed thee : I have cast all thy sins into the depth
cf the sea, alid will subdue ail thy iniquities.

" And ie thou canst not believe my oath, credit
these scars. ...See ! I have graved thee upon the plains
of my hands. Long, too long have I waited for thy
return, thou poor, - . andtring, weary prodigal. Let
me see in tbee the travail of my soul and be sdtisfied.
By the mystery of my holy incarnation and dreadful
temptation, by my ai.;ony and bloody sweat, by*rny in-
famous death and glorious resurrection, I beseech thee,
come to the. pardoning God by me. If thou hast no-
thin1; to pay, 1 forgive' thee all the debt : Whether it
be fifty or fire hvsadfed pence, or ten thousand talents,
I frankly forgive thee all. Only let me heal thy back-
stidingSj and loVe thee freely ; let my left hand be un-
der thy head, and let my right hand embrace thee.
See the wounds which I have received for thee in the
house of my friends ! Reach hither thy finger, and be-
hold my hands ; and reach hither thy hand and thrust

SEEKERS FOR SALVATION. 223

it into my side, and be not faithless, but believing.
Cleave to me with full purpose of heart, follow me
through the regeneration, and thou shak not only be
one of my jewels, but a crown of glory, and a rcyal
diadem in the hand of thy God : Yea, as the bride-
groom rejoiceth over the bride, so will I rejoice over
thee, and give thee a name better tnan that of son and
daughter.... I, the Holy One of Israel, will be thy life
and glory. ...I, thy Maker, will be tny husband, and
thy ali."

And are these, O sinner, the gracious sayings of
God to thee ?....The compassionate expostulations of
God, become incarnate for thee r....Did God so love
thee, as to set forth his only, begotten Son, as a propi-
tiation through faith in his blood, thus to declare his
righteousness, for the remission of sins that are past ?
May the Almighty now be just, and yet the justmer of
him that believeth in Jesus ? Is there no difference,
no repect of persons with him ? And is the same Lord
over ail, rich unto all that caii upon hini ? Then shout
ye heavens ! triumph thou earth ! and thou, happy
sinner, know the day of thy visitation, be wise, ponder
these things, and thou slialt understand the loving-
kindness of the Lord.

Be no longer afraid, that it will be presumption in
thee to believe, and that God will be offended with thee,
if thou makest so free with Jesus, as to wash instantly
in the fountain of his atoning blood. He not only
gives thee leave to believe, but he invite* thee to do it
freely. Nay, he commands thee to believe, for This is
his commandment, that we should believe on the name
of his Son Jesus Christ. He even enforces the pre-
cept by a double promise, that if thou believest thou
shait not perish but have everlasting life. And that
nothing may be wanting to stir thee up to this import-
ant business, he is gracious enough to threaten the
neglect of it with the most dreadful fiuninhment ; for
he that believeth not, shall not enter into his rest, and
shall be damned j and he that to the end remains fear-

224 AN ADDRESS TO EARNEST

ful and unbelieving, shall be cast into the lake that
burnetii with hre unci brimstone, which is the second
death. How canst thou doubt then, whether thou art
welcome to receive the Son given, by believing on his
name ?

Come to him just as thou art, and he will make
thee what thou shouldst be. When he counsels thee
to buy of him the gold of faith, and the garment of
salvation, take him at his gospel word : Come without
regarding thy stuff : The poorer thou art the better :
The oil of his grace flows most abundantly into empty
vessels : His charity is most glorified in the relief of
the most miserable objects : His royal bounty scorns
the vile .compensation of thy wretched merits : He
sells like a king, like the King of kings without money
and without price. Ask and have, and Take freely,
are the encouraging mottos written upon all the un-
searchable treasures of his grace.

Be of good comfort then, rise, be calleth thee :
Stretch out thy withered hand, and he will restore it :
Open thy mouth wide, and he will fill it : bring an
empty vessel, a poor hungry heart, and he will give
into thy bosom good measure, pressed down, shaken
together, and running over.

And now what meanest thou, Sleeper ? Why tar*
riest thou ? Arise, and wash away thy sins, calling oh
the name of the Lord. Lose not time in conferring
with flesh and blood ; much less in parleying with sa-
tan, or consulting thy unbelieving heart : Here delays
lead to ruin : The Philistines are upon thee, instantly
shake thyself ; if thou art not altogether blinded by
the god of this world, and led captive by him at his
will ; this moment, in the powerful name of Jesus,
burst the bonds of spiritual sloth.. ..break, like a despe-
rate soul, out of the prison of unbelief.. ..escape for thy
life. ...look not behind thee. ...stay not in all the plain....
This one thing do, leaving the things that are behind,
Sodom and her ways, press forwards towards Zoar,
and escape to the mount of God, lest shuu be con-

SEEKERS FOR SALVATION. 225

sumed. By the new and living way consecrated' for
us, in full assurance of faith, fly to the Father of mer-
cies....pass through the croud of Laodicean professors
....press through the opening door of hope. ...take the
kingdom of heaven by violence.

. With halting, yet wrestling Jacob, say to the Friend
of sinners, I will not let thee go unless thou bless me.
If he makes as if he would go farther ; with the two
mournful disciples, constrain him to stay ; or rather
with the distressed woman of Canaan, follow him
whithersoever he goeth....take no denial. ...through the
veil, that is to say, his flesh, torn from . the crown of
his head to the sole of his feet.. ..through this mysteri-
ous veil, rent from the top to the bottom, rush into the
blood-besprinkled sanctuary.. ..embrace the horns of
the golden altar, lay all thy guilt on the head of
the sin-atoning victim. ...read thy name on the breast
of thy merciful high priest. ...claim the safety, demand
the blessings, receive the consolations bestowed on all
that fly to him for refuge.. ..and begin a new, delight-
ful life, under the healing and peaceful shadow of his
wings.

But perhaps thou art now devoid of active power,
and broken in spirit. The hurry of thy self-righteous
nature subsides. Wounded and half-dead, thou liest
in the way of misery, waiting for the passing by of thy
heavenly deliverer. Thou hadst set thy heart upon
being blessed in one particular manner, and God in
his wisdom thinks it best to bless thee in another.
Thou wouidst scale the new Jerusalem and storm hea-
ven ; but he chuses it should come down into thy soul
as a fruitful shower descends into a fleece of wool.
Be still then, and know that he is God. Let him break
thy self-will, which hides itself under godiy appear-
ances ; and let him practically teach thee, that salva-
tion is not of him that willeth, nor of him that run-
neth ; but of God who sheweth mercy.

Meekly dive into the amazing depth of these
words, In quietness and rest shall be your strength.

226 AN ADDRESS TO EARNEST

Stand still and see the salvation of God. The fire, the
earthquake, and the rending of the rocks are over ; si-
lence takes place ; the still small voice will soon follow.
Thou art for a time, taken from the foaming billows
of self-agitation, and led by the still waters ; a calm
succeeds the impetuous storm, and a passive waiting
thy restless, fruitless endeavours Thou art in the
case of one fallen into the sea, who having struggled
long and hard to escape drowning is obliged to yield at
last. Yield then, weary sinner, yield to thy happy fate.
Fully surrender to the God of thy life. Entirely aban-
don thyself to Jesus. Freely trust him with thy pre-
sent and eternal salvation. Whether thau swim or
sink, let thyself go into the ocean of mercy. Catch
at no broken reed by the way, but calmly venture into
the unfathomable depths of redeeming love. Lose
thus thy life, and thou shalt find it. The power of
God will soon be made perfect in thy weakness ; and
when thy strength it renewed, earnestly wrestle again.
Thus go on, alternately striving and waiting, according
to the leadings of the Holy Spirit, till, having passed
through all the inferior dispensations of divine grace,
thou enter by faith into the rest that remains for the
people of God, and take possession of that kingdom
of God, which consists in righteousness, peace, and
joy in the Koly Ghost. *

VII. In that kingdom, happy believer, the times
of refreshing fully come from the presence of the
Lord ; mercy and love embrace thee on every side ;
and thy sprinkled conscience enjoys the peace of a
sh:-r>ardoning God. ...Then smiling justice, more than
satisfied by the meritorious death of Christ, sheathes
her flaming sword, and declares, There is now no con-
demnation to them that are in Christ Jesus : They are
justified from all things, and freely forgiven all tres-
passes....And now thou art more than conqueror
through him that loved thee. Standing by humble
faith in his omnipotence, thou canst do all things,
through his grace strengthening thee. Sin Jhas po domi-

SEEKERS FOR SALVATION. 22f

nion over thee : The cruel and bloody tyrant, that reign-
ed unto death, is dethroned ; and grace, rich grace,
sweetly reign* through righteousness unto eternai life.
Triumphing in Christ over thy fiercest enemies, and
putting thy victorious foot upon the neck of the last,
thou challengest his utmost rage, and shoutest " O
Death, where is thy sting ? O Grave where is thy vic-
tory ? Thanks be to. God, who giveth us the victory-
through our Lord Jesus Christ i"

Now thou seest and feelest that God is Love. Thou
ehvellest in him, and he in thee. Lovey the fulfilling
of the law, diffusing itself through all the heart, influ-
ences thy looks, words and actions, and makes thee
spring after Jesus into the ehariot of cheerful obedi-
ence: Thy heart is as his heart; and while active
grace draws thy willing soul along, God's free Spirit
pours the oil of gladness upon the fervid wTheels of thy
affections : Supported, and animated by the Lord's pre-
sence, thou swiftly movest, thou delightfully fliest in
all the ways of duty : Mountains of difficulties sink into
plains before thee : wisdom's roughest ways are ways
of pleasantness, all her paths are peace.

Now thou rejoicest to be thought worthy to suffer
shame for Christ's name, and countest it all joy, when
thou fallest into divers trials. With Him the cross
loses its dreadful aspect, and enormous weight:
When thou findest it in the high-way of holiness, in-
stead of consulting with flesh and blood, how thou
shalt go aside to avoid it, thcu immediately takest it
up, and it proves a comforting staff, a never failing
prop.

Christ crucified works this miracle of grace, for
Him thou receives!: with every cross ; and the moment
thou dost so in the power mi his Spirit, Ged, even thy
own God,, gives thee his choicest blessing. He crowns
thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies ; and
with the inexpressible complacence of a Father, who
receives a lost son : with the triumphant joy of a Sa-
viour, who embraces a raised Lazarus ; He savs to the

528 AN ADDRESS TO EARNEST

myriads that surround his throne : " One more sin-
ner repenteth unto life ! Hallalujah ! He hath escaped
the avenger of blood. ...he hath passed the gate of the
city of refuge ! Hallalujah! Shout ye sons of the morn-
ing ! My angels, strike your p;olden harps ! Dance
every heart for joy, through the realms of heaven!
Let bursts of triumphant mirth. ...let peals of ravishing
praise roll along the transporting news. ..Let all your
exulting breasts reverberate, let all your harmonious
tongues echo back our glorious joy ! For this my son
was dead and is alive again ! This your brother was
lost, and is found again ?"

And irradiating thy soul with the light of his re-
conciled countenance, he says to thee from a throne
blazing with grace and glory : " Penitent believer, re-
ceive the adoption of a son. Because thou receivest
my Son, my only begotten Som into thy heart, I ad-
mit thee into the family of the first born : Be thou
blameless and harmless, a Son of God without rebuke,
in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation,
among whom I allow thee to shine, as a burning light
in a benighted world. Son, all that I have is thine, be
ever with me, and thou shalt inherit all things. Yes,
whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas ; whether "ray
first apostles, or my choice ministers ; or the world,
or life or death, or things present, or things to come ;
all is thine, for thou art Christ's and Christ is mine.
As thou hast received him, so abide and walk in him
worthy of me unto all pleasing-; being fruitful in every
good work, and increasing in his knowledge, till ^thy
faith is turned- to sight, and I am all in all."

Start not, believing Reader, at these sayings,
as if they were too glorious to be credited. They
are the true sayings of God. The Lord himself
spoke them for thy comfort. They are the precious
pearls, which I promised thee out of the unsearchable
treasures of Christ : If swine trample them under
their feet, wear thou them on thy breast. Instead of
being offended at their transcendant excellence, mag-

SEEKERS FOR SALVATION. 229

nify the God of all consolation, who, having delivered
up his own Son for us all, with him also freely gives
us all things, consequently the richest mines of gospel
grace. And giving vent to the just transports of thy
grateful heart, cry out with the beloved disciple, Behold
what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon
us, that nve should be called the Sons of God !....Unto
him who thus loved us, and washed us from our sins
in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests
to God and his Father ; to him be glory and dominion
for ever and ever. Amen.

END OF THE ADDRESS.

APPENDIX.

Concerning the evangelical harmony that subsists between
living faith and loving obedience.

THE mystery of our salvation is thus opened
by St. Paul. By grace are ye saved, through faith
which worketh by love. This apostolic declaration
subdivides itself into the following propositions, which,
on aceount of their clearness and importance, may,
with propriety, be called Gospel-axioms. ( 1 .) Ye are
saved by grace. (2.) Ye are saved through a faith
which works by love. These propositions, like two
adamantine pillars, support the whole doctrine of
Christ, concerning faith and "works ; grace and rewar-
dableness ; or mercy en God's part, and obedience
on our own:. ...A doctrine, which, though clear as the
day, has nevertheless been so obscured by endless con-'
troversies, that thousands of protestants and papists
know it in its purity no more.

According to the first of these axioms, all that go
to heaven, give divine grace the glory of their salva-
tion ; because they are all saved by mere favour,
through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ. AvA
according to the second axiom, all that go to hell,
are obliged to clear divine justice, because they are
condemned merely for their avoidable unbelief, and
©bstinate disobedience. Upon this evangelical plan
the righteous are graciously rewarded, and the un-
righteous justly punished: The doctrines of God's
mercy, in giving grace for Christ's sake, and of man's
faithfulness in using it by Christ's help, sweetly co-

232 APPENDIX.

incide ; and from their blessed union springs the just
proportion of every part of the gospel.

These axioms are so strongly maintained, and so
frequently alluded to by the sacred writers, that who-
ever rejects either the one or the other, might as well
reject one half of the bible. Attentively consider them
asunder, and your unprejudiced reason will perceive
their equity. Impartially compare them together,
and instead of finding them incompatible, (as some
prepossessed persons would persuade us they are)
you will see, that they harmonize in so exquisite a
manner, as to answer the most excellent ends in the
world.

To give you an idea of their working in the
breast of believers, permit me to compare them to
those two opposite, and yet consantaneous motions
of the heart, which anatomists call diastole and sys-
tole. The one forcibly dilates, the other powerfully
contracts, that noble part of the human body ; and
both together, by means seemingly contrary, cause
the circulation of the blood, and diffuse vital powers
through all the animal frame. ...Just so passive faith,
and active love. ...The one perpetually receives fa-
vours from God, the other perpetually bestows them
upon man ; and thus, by continually performing their
contrary (not contradictory) offices, they make spi-
riual life circulate through the believer's soul, and en-
able him to diffuse kindness and good works, through-
out the social body of which he is a member.

From the animal, pass we to the planetary world ;
and we shall see another striking emblem of the har-
monious opposition, which subsists between the two
gospel-axioms. There we eminently discover the
centripetal and the centrifugal force. Though oppo-
sed to each other, they are nevertheless so admirably
joined together, that from their exquisite combina-
tion, results the harmonious dance of the spheres ; I
mean the circular motions of the planets around the
sun, and around each other.... Such is the wonderful

APPENDIX. 233

effects of evangelical promises, and legal precepts,
when they meet in a due proportion, in an upright
heart. The promises which are all wrapped up in
the first gospel-axiom, powerfully draw believers to
Christ, who is the Sun of Righteousness, and the
centre of the christian system : The precepts, which
the second axiom necessarily supposes, drive them for-
ward in the straight line of duty. Being thus de-
lightfully attracted, and powerfully impelled, like pla-
nets of a different magnitude, in the firmament of
the church, believers rapidly move in the orb of evan-
gelical obedience, where the original light of Christ
warmly shines into their own souls, and their borrow-
ed light mildly gleams upon their fellow-mortals.

If ever you saw a person thus swiftly and evenly
moving in the immense circle of a religious and social
duty ; freely receiving all from his God, and freely im-
parting all to his neighbour ; you have seen one of
the stars in the Lord's right-hand... .you have seen
one, who practically holds the two gospel-axioms. ...one,
who believes as a sinner, and works as a believer....
one, in whose heart the doctrines of faith and works,
free grace and free obedience, divine faithfulness and
human fidelity, are justly balanced. ...one, who keeps r.t
an equal distance from the dreadful rocks, upon which
antinomian believers, and anti-christian workers, are
daily cast away.... In a word, you have seen an adult
christian, a man who adorns the doctrine of Christ
our Saviour in all things.

If the two gospel-axioms are of such importance,
that the health and vigour of every christian, flow
from the proper union of their power in his heart ; is
it not deplorable to see so many people every where
rising against them ? Self-conceited moralists violently
attack the first axiom ; and self-humbled soiifidians
will give the second no quarter. These opposed as-
sailants have all, I grant, a zeal for God, but not ac-
cording to knowledge ; for the former know not, that
they rob God of his glory ; and the latter do not con-
v 2

254 APPENDIX.

sider, that they pour upon him our same. The one re-
fuse to acknowledge him the grand author of our
bliss : the other to mend the matter, represent him as
the grand contriver of our ruin. Both nevertheless,
have truth on their side ; but alas 1 it is only a part of
the truth as it is in Jesus ; and truth divided, like an
animal cut through the middle, is dreadfully mangled,
if not entirely destroyed.

You are also desired to observe, judicious reader,
that as a just proportion of sail and ballast, next to a
favourable wind, makes a ship sail with speed and
safety ; so the just balance of the two gospel-axioms,
next to the Spirit of God, makes a believer run swiftly
and safely the race that is set before him. He does
not properly run, he merely hops in the way of truth,
who discarding one of the gospel-axioms, moves only
upon the other. Antinomian Laodiceans therefore, and
anti-Christian pharisees, are equally blameable. For
the piety of the former stands only upon the first ax-
iom ; and the devotion of the latter has no other basis
than the second. The one will hear of nothing but
faith ; the other will be told of nothing but works. But
I he sound believer is for a faith that works righteous-
ness.

Faith unfeigned and obedient love, are of equal im-
portance to the true christian. Those precious graces,
which answer to the gospel-axioms, like a well-pro-
portioned pair of heavenly steeds, mutually draw the
steady chariot of his profession across the valleys of
discouragement, and over the hills of difficulty, which
he meets with in his way to heaven. If I might carry
on the allegory, I would observe, that all the advan-
tage, which the right-hand steed has over the other,
is, that it :.s first put in the traces: But this is no proof
of his superiority, for he will be taken off at the gate
of heaven ; and obedient love alone, shall have the ho-
nour of drawing the christian's triumphal car through
the realms of glory.

APPENDIX. 235

Reader, if in the theory and practice you maintain
both gospel-axioms ; If, instead of setting up the one
in opposition to the other, you stand upon the scrip-
tural line in which they harmonize ; you have sur-
mounted the greatest difficulty there is in the Chris-
tian religion ; you hold the faith once delivered unto
the saints. And now prepare to contend for it : Arm
yourself for the fight ; for antinomian believers will
attack you on the left hand, and pharisaic unbelievers
on the right. But be not afraid of their number ;
patiently receive their double fire. They may gall
one another, but they cannot hurt you. Truth is
great, and Love powerful ; if you fight under their
glorious banners, though the arrows of contempt, and
the brands of calumny, will fly thick around you, you
shall not be dangerously wounded. Only take the
shield of faith with this motto, " By grace 1 am saved
through faith ;" and quench with it the fiery darts of
self-conceited legalists. Put on the breast-plate of
righteousness, with this description, u Faith works by
righteous love, the mother of good works:" This
piece of celestial armour, will keep ofi° the heaviest
strokes of self-humbled gospellers. And animated
by the Captain of your salvation, through the oppo-
site forces of those adversaries, urge your evangeli-
caiiy-legal way, till you exchange the sword of the
Spirit for a golden harp, and your daily cross for an
heavenly crown.

Such is the happy medium, that the author of this
book desires to recommend. Sometime ago, he thought
himself obliged to oppose good mistaken men, who,
in their zeal for the first gospel-axiom, wanted to re-
present the second as a k' dreadful heresy.'* And now
he lets these papers see the light, not only to prove to
the free-thinkers of his parish, that the first axiom is
highly rational ; but to convince the enemies of the
second axiom, that though he has exposed their mis-
takes with regard to works, he receives the genuine
doctrines of grace as cordially as they ; and is ready

236 APPENDIX.

scripturally, and rationally, to defend salvation by
faith, against the most plausible objections of self-
righteous moralists.

He just begs leave to observe, that the preceding
pages guard the first gospel-axiom ; that the Four
Checks to Antinomianism, guard chiefly the second ;
that the Equal Check to Pharisaism and Antinomian-
ism, guards both at once ; and that those tracts con-
tain a little system of practical and polemical divinity,
which it is hoped, stands at an equal distance from
the errors of moral disbelievers, and immoral be-
lievers.

This book is chiefly recommended to disbelieving
moralists, who deride the doctrine of salvation by
grace through faith in the day of conversion, merely
because they are not properly acquainted with our
fallen and lost estate. And the Checks are chiefly de-
signed for disbelieving antinomians, who rise against
the doctrine of a believer's salvation by grace through
the works of faith in the great day, merely because
they do not consider the indispensible necessity of
evangelical obedience, and the nature of the day of
judgment.

In the Appeal, the careless, self-conceited sinner
is awakened, and humbled. In the Address the seri-
ous, humbled sinner, is raised up, and comforted.
And in the Checks, the foolish virgin is re-awakened,
the Laodicean believer reproved, the prodigal son
lashed back to his Father's house, and the upright
believer animated to mend his pace in the way of faith
working by love, and to perfect holiness in the fear of
God.

THE END.